The Dow Jones Industrial Average was slightly higher in today’s stock market after breaching the 30,000 milestone for the first time earlier this week. The Nasdaq composite led the major indexes higher with a gain of nearly 1%, while the S&P 500 posted modest gains in early morning trading.
The market was up in the first post-Thanksgiving trading session as hopes for a Covid-19 vaccine continue to remain high. Due to the holiday, the New York Stock Exchange will close at 1 p.m. ET.
Investors remained optimistic on Friday, after the Dow Jones crossed a key technical level at 30,000 for the first time in history on Tuesday. The blue-chip index reached a new high of 30,116 that day.
In morning trading on Friday, the Dow Jones held a 0.1% gain. The S&P 500 traded up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.9%. The Russell 2000 small-cap index climbed 0.2%. Volume was lower on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq vs. the same time on Wednesday.
According to Worldometer, confirmed Covid-19 cases in the U.S. since the beginning of the pandemic are now over 13.2 million, with the death toll over 269,000.
Stock Market Today
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) gained a solid 1.4%, beating the major indexes. Companies boosting the index on Friday included Etsy (ETSY), with a gain of over 8%. The internet retailer broke out on Friday and is now trading inside a key 5% buy zone.
Shares of Etsy stock traded above a 154.98 consolidation buy point after reclaiming the 50-day line last week. The stock maintains excellent IBD Ratings with a Composite of 99, an EPS Rating of 99 and an RS Rating of 96.
Elsewhere, IBD Leaderboard stock Tesla (TSLA) continued to rise this week, advancing 3.8% Friday. Shares have now risen over 21% so far this week. The stock hit a new high of 598.78 Friday. Tesla stock is sharply extended from the 466 buy point of a cup with handle, as noted in Leaderboard. Tesla was also a recent IBD Stock Of The Day.
Finally, IPO stock Snowflake (SNOW) broke out early Friday, according to MarketSmith chart analysis. Shares jumped as much as 9% and are currently above a 5% buy zone from a 301.10 cup with handle buy point. The buy zone topped out at 316.16. Snowflake was featured in this week’s Investing With IBD podcast.
Dow Jones Today
As for the Dow Jones, stocks leading the index Friday included health care stocks Amgen (AMGN) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH), which rose 2.2% and 1.2%, respectively.
Also leading on the upside was semiconductor stock Intel (INTC), which held a gain of 1.8% in early trade.
Elsewhere, Walmart (WMT) traded inside a 5% buy zone. According to MarketSmith chart analysis, the stock is near a 151.43 buy point of a flat base. Shares rallied 0.1% Friday morning but reversed slightly lower shortly after.
The top discount retailer maintains an 83 Composite Rating and an 83 EPS Rating. Walmart stock is the No. 5-performing stock on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, advancing 27.8% year to date.