The major indices all retreated on Wednesday, with some of Wall Street's largest corporations bleeding the most.
Washington still can't get its act together on COVID relief: Democratic leaders shot down a $916 billion proposal from the White House, favoring instead a $908 billion bipartisan deal that's still not fully hammered out.
However, the "rotation" away from tech stocks was back on – sellers weren't overly aggressive with the many cyclical names of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which dipped 0.4% to 30,068, but they sprinted away from mega-cap technology and tech-related firms.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.
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.
Facebook (FB, -1.9%) helped lead the Nasdaq Composite (-1.9% to 12,338) lower after a group of 48 state attorneys general filed antitrust lawsuits against the social media firm; Apple (AAPL, -2.1%), Amazon.com (AMZN, -2.3%) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL, -1.9%) weighed heavily, too.
Where was that money flowing? Well, housing-related stocks Lowe's (LOW, +5.9%) and Home Depot (HD, +1.5%) attracted buyers Wednesday, as did the initial public offering (IPO) of food delivery service DoorDash (DASH), which rocketed 85.8% higher on its first day of trading.
Other action in the stock market today:
- The S&P 500 shed 0.8% to 3,672.
- The small-cap Russell 2000 closed 0.8% off its lows to 1,902.
- Gold futures joined stocks in their decline, falling 1.9% to $1,838.50 per ounce.
- U.S. crude oil futures slid, but by just 0.2% to settle at $45.52 per barrel.
How to Manage This Rotation
Investors should expect more of the same daily churn, analysts say, as Wall Street hangs on every stimulus-related headline. And they also continue to say that value stocks still have the edge.
"November was also a great month for Value with outperformance relative to Growth across all the size segments," write BofA Global Research analysts. "However, multiples actually expanded more in the Growth benchmarks than in the Value benchmarks across sizes. … This is one reason why we remain bullish on Value: the rally barely made a dent in relative valuations."
That continues to bode well for value stocks and value funds alike.
But investors who are fully allocated can't buy much of anything without raising a little cash, so unless you plan a massive contribution soon, you might need to do a little pruning. These 15 dividend-paying stocks continue to look problematic, according to analyst opinions and fundamental data.
Other stocks are coming up against difficult business environments and other obstacles that could hold them back in the year to come. Sell recommendations can always be dicey in a market as resilient as this one, but these five stocks are best sold or avoided as we turn the calendar to 2021.
-
Dow Hits New Intraday High on Fed Day: Stock Market TodayNot even the most important stock in the world could keep the oldest equity index down on a significant day for markets.
-
Savings Goal CalculatorTools Want to know how much you need to save each month to reach your financial goals? Our calculator helps you build a realistic savings plan.
-
Dow Hits New Intraday High on Fed Day: Stock Market Today
Not even the most important stock in the world could keep the oldest equity index down on a significant day for markets.
-
Dow Gains 617 Points as Rate Cuts Near: Stock Market TodayWednesday's economic data didn't shift Wall Street's expectations that the Fed is preparing for a rate cut at next week's meeting.
-
S&P 500 Hits New High After Oracle Earnings: Stock Market TodayAnother down day for Apple held the Dow Jones Industrial Average back, though.
-
Stocks Grind Up to New All-Time Highs: Stock Market TodayUnitedHealth stock led the Dow Jones Industrial Average amid increasing signs the labor market has not been well for months.
-
Markets Prepare for August Inflation Data: Stock Market TodayApple CEO Tim Cook is still important, but price action this week is as much about incoming inflation data ahead of next week's Fed meeting.
-
Big Tech Names Rise Above Broad Weakness: Stock Market TodaySome familiar names enjoyed solid rallies on the resolution of outstanding questions, but macro uncertainty hangs over the broader market.
-
Alphabet Stock Pops After Google Antitrust Ruling: What to KnowGOOGL stock is soaring Wednesday after a judge ruled that Alphabet does not have to divest its Chrome browser.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Sherwin-Williams Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodaySherwin-Williams stock has clobbered the broader market by a wide margin for a long time.
