Day Traders Diary

12/7/20

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 pulled back today following a record-setting session as traders worried about rising coronavirus cases and searched for clues on additional fiscal aid. The Dow finished down 148 points or 0.49%. The S&P 500 dipped 0.2% while the Nasdaq Composite rose 55 points or 0.45%.

Value stocks lagged their growth counterparts on Monday. Intel was the worst-performing Dow stock, falling 4.1%. The energy sector led the S&P 500 lower, sliding 2.6%. Facebook rose 2.2%, and Apple gained 1.4% to lead the Nasdaq higher. Tesla also contributed to the Nasdaq's gains, advancing 7.4% and reaching an all-time high.

The U.S. has reported a record-high average number of cases over the past seven days of more than 196,200. That's up 20% when compared to the week-earlier period. The U.S. was also approaching a record-high number of daily COVID-related deaths.

Dr. Deborah Birx warned on Sunday that the escalating coronavirus cases will be "the worst event that this country will face, not just from a public health side."

The rising caseload has led to increased calls for additional fiscal stimulus. However, lawmakers are struggling to push through new legislation before year-end.

On Monday, a Democratic aide told CNBC that Congress is looking to extend government funding for an additional week to buy more time to scrape together a new relief measure. The news came after a bipartisan group of senators unveiled a $908 billion aid proposal last week.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell initially shut down the measure, but a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi later said she and McConnell discussed their "shared commitment to completing an omnibus [spending bill] and Covid relief as soon as possible."

Lawmakers have been at a stalemate over additional fiscal aid for months, raising concern about the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The increasing number of coronavirus cases has led some states and cities to re-impose stricter social distancing measures to curb the outbreak.