Stocks started Thursday the same way they ended Wednesday – weakly – but got a little pep in their step after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, has agreed to resume stimulus negotiations.
The market was spooked early by initial jobless claims, which actually increased by 31,000 to 742,000 during the week ended Nov. 14.
"The rise went against our and consensus expectations for a decline in claims and paints a picture of some loss in labor market momentum in mid-November," say Barclays Investment Bank's Michael Gapen and Jonathan Millar. But the pair adds, "Despite the increase in this week's initial claims data, the four-week moving average in initial claims fell to 742k, down from 756k in the prior week."
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Meanwhile, America's coronavirus death toll surpassed 250,000, and 1 million new cases have been reported in the past week alone, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend against traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday.
That held back some of the value and cyclical areas of the market that had been advancing of late, and instead, tech led the day. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.9% higher to 11,904, helped by gains from the likes of Fiserv (FISV, +4.7%) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, +3.6%).
Other action in the stock market today:
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to 29,483.
- The S&P 500 improved by 0.4% to 3,581.
- The small-cap Russell 2000 finished 0.8% higher, to 1,784.
- U.S. oil futures fell 0.3%, settling at $44.20 per barrel.
- Gold futures dropped 0.9% to $1,856.80 per ounce.
Healthcare: Center Stage in 2021?
One thing seems certain as 2020 begins to wind down: COVID likely will be one of the major market factors of 2021, too. Even if a vaccine were approved for full use tomorrow, it would still take months for distribution to begin, and far longer to inoculate much of the U.S., let alone the rest of the world.
So it's likely, then, that the healthcare sector will remain in focus for investors.
Healthcare is widely praised as a "go-anywhere" sector given the sheer necessity of its products and services – it can hold up when the bears bear down, and join in when the bulls start to charge. And investors have a wide array of ways to participate in healthcare's gains that can suit just about any appetite.
Diversified healthcare mutual funds can defray risk across dozens or hundreds of stocks. But if you don't mind risk, you can swing for the fences with potent biotech stocks.
Fortunately, 2021 appears to have room for healthcare stocks of every stripe. Read on as we dig into some of the sector's most attractive opportunities as you begin to adjust your own portfolios for the year ahead.
Kyle Woodley was long AMD as of this writing.
-
I'm want to give my 3 grandkids $5K each for Christmas.You're comfortably retired and want to give your grandkids a big Christmas check, but their parents are worried they might spend it all. We ask the pros for help.
-
If You're Not Doing Roth Conversions, You Need to Read ThisRoth conversions and other Roth strategies can be complex, but don't dismiss these tax planning tools outright. They could really work for you and your heirs.
-
Could Traditional Retirement Expectations Be Killing Us?A retirement psychologist makes the case: A fulfilling retirement begins with a blueprint for living, rather than simply the accumulation of a large nest egg.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Coca-Cola Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodayEven with its reliable dividend growth and generous stock buybacks, Coca-Cola has underperformed the broad market in the long term.
-
If You Put $1,000 into Qualcomm Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You Would Have TodayQualcomm stock has been a big disappointment for truly long-term investors.
-
Dow Climbs 327 Points, Crosses 48,000: Stock Market TodayMarkets are pricing the end of the longest government shutdown in history – and another solid set of quarterly earnings.
-
Risk Is On Again, Dow Jumps 381 Points: Stock Market TodayThe stock market started the week strong on signs the government shutdown could soon be over.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Home Depot Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodayHome Depot stock has been a buy-and-hold banger for truly long-term investors.
-
Dow, S&P 500 Slip on December Rate Cut Worries, Nvidia Boosts Nasdaq: Stock Market TodayNvidia became the first company ever to boast a $5 trillion market cap, but it wasn't enough to lift the Dow and the S&P 500.
-
US-China Trade Hopes Send Stocks to New Highs: Stock Market TodayApple and Microsoft are on track to join Nvidia in the $4 trillion market cap club.
-
Dow Adds 472 Points After September CPI: Stock Market TodayIBM and Advanced Micro Devices created tailwinds for the main indexes after scoring a major quantum-computing win.
