The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded flat in early afternoon trades, holding its gains from a seven-week winning streak. The index is at record highs.
A dovish Fed and signs of cooling inflation are tailwinds for the stock market, as a Santa Claus rally gets underway.
On Monday, the housing market index for December came in at 37 vs. consensus views of 36, according to Econoday.
The S&P 500 gained 0.6% in afternoon trading in the stock market today. Among sectors, communication services and energy led, as crude oil futures surged over 3% to $73.84 a barrel. The technology sector was unchanged. Utilities lagged. Real Estate Sector Select SPDR fell 1.2%.
The Nasdaq gained 0.7%. Netflix and Magnificent Seven stocks Alphabet and Meta Platforms rose, as did Costco, in the Nasdaq 100.
Energy plays also made gains in the index, with Diamondback Energy and Baker Hughes making strong strides. Amazon.com, another Magnificent Seven stock, rose to the top of a buy zone.
Volume on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq was lower compared with the same time on Friday. Advancers were slightly ahead of decliners on both exchanges.
The small-cap Russell 2000 pared early gains and was unchanged.
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF did better and rose 1%.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 3 basis points to 3.95%.
Dow Jones Stocks
Tech stocks lagged in the Dow. Intel and Apple fell less than 1%. Microsoft was barely higher. Chevron, Procter & Gamble and Merck led gains.
Apple fell after the tech behemoth said it would stop sales of some of its smartwatches in the U.S. The company faces a patent dispute over the technology for its blood oxygen feature on its Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches. The move follows the International Trade Commission's decision in October that required Apple to stop selling watches with the technology. Apple can continue to sell the Apple Watch SE since it does not have the blood oxygen sensor.
Nike is in a long cup base with a buy point of 131.31. Earnings are due Thursday.
Outside the Dow, Tesla rival Nio rose over 4% and extended a move above its 50-day moving average. Nio won a $2.2 billion investment after the company's ET7 luxury sedan completed 1,000 kilometers on a single charge.
In health care, Illumina rose 2.5%. The gene sequencing company will divest its recent acquisition Grail, a cancer screening company, after losing an antitrust trial.
Also outside the Dow Jones, software leader and AI play Adobe cited regulatory hurdles in the U.K. and Europe as it announced it is dropping its $20 billion plan to acquire cloud platform Figma. The stock is finding support at the 50-day moving average.
In security software, Palo Alto Networks rose after analysts at Raymond James downgraded the stock to market perform while boosting CheckPoint Software to outperform. CHKP rose over 2%.
U.S. Steel Sold TO Nippon Steel
U.S. Steel soared over 25% after news that Nippon Steel will acquire the company for $14.1 billion in an all-cash deal. At $55 per share, the offer represents a 40% premium over U.S. Steel's Friday closing price. Nippon Steel's U.S.-traded shares fell more than 4%.
On the earnings front, FedEx is in a buy zone from a buy point of 270.95 ahead of earnings on Tuesday. Accenture was off 0.6% with earnings due Tuesday. ACN stock is also in a buy zone from a cup base's 330.44 entry. But remember that it's risky to buy stocks just before their earnings announcements.
Micron Technology will report on Wednesday and the stock is extended. Carnival is nearing a buy point of 19.55 with earnings due Thursday.
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