Dow Rallies As Kamala Harris Breaks Senate Stimulus Deadlock; GameStop Surges Amid Breakouts
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied as Vice President Kamala Harris cast her first tiebreaking vote in the Senate to advance the coronavirus stimulus package. Meanwhile, a GameStop (GME) rally was fading while Nike (NKE) and Cisco (CSCO) were the best blue-chip performers.
Among EV stocks, Tesla (TSLA) and General Motors (GM) were up slightly. Big 2020 winner Zoom Video Communications (ZM) made a bullish move. Software firm ChannelAdvisor (ECOM) was among stocks passing buy points.
Vice President Harris cast the tiebreaking vote after the Senate was deadlocked 50-50 over the coronavirus relief package. The party-line vote came after a marathon 15-hour session considering amendments.
The House is looking to pass a stimulus bill within two weeks. Democrats are looking to force through a rescue package with no Republican votes if necessary.
“On Monday we will begin working on the specifics of the bill,” Pelosi told reporters after meeting with President Joe Biden in the White House. Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion package, but Republicans say the price tag is too high.
Nasdaq, S&P 500 Poised To End Week Higher
The Nasdaq was the best-performing major index of the day, tacking on around 0.6%. Seagen (SGEN) was leading with a gain of around 14%, with Activision Blizzard (ATVI) and Zoom Video close behind.
The S&P 500 was only just behind the Nasdaq, rising by 0.4%. Strong performers included casino stock Wynn Resorts (WYNN), which rose around 8%, and Estee Lauder (EL).
Volume was mixed compared with the same time on Thursday. It slipped more than 7% on the Nasdaq and rose around 4% on the NYSE.
Sectors were almost all positive. Materials and consumer staples were the top performers, with technology the only laggard.
Small caps were outperforming the major indexes. The Russell 2000 gained just over 1%.
Growth stocks were performing best of all, with the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) gaining around 1.4%. Digital Turbine (APPS) was the top IBD 50 stock, rising by more than 12% after soaring 20% Thursday on earnings.
Nike Stock Boosts Dow Jones
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was lagging the other major indexes. However, it was still up 0.3% as it tries to reach on an all-time high.
Sportswear giant Nike was the top performer, rising by more than 3%. It is closing in on a flat-base buy point of 148.05. Its Composite Rating of 73 is not ideal. Cisco Systems was another standout performer, rising by around 2%.
GameStop Rallies After Robinhood Move
GameStop stock rallied more than 10% Friday, but was well off session highs. It is on track to sink more than 80% for the week.
The rally came after Robinhood lifted trading restrictions on the Reddit short-squeezed stocks. GME shot up amid coordinated trading by retail investors using the WallStreetBets chat room on Reddit.
The end of the trading limits came after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with federal regulators Thursday over market volatility stemming from GameStop stock and the other short squeezes.
Among other stocks promoted on the chat room, cinema chain AMC (AMC) fell more than 5%, while BlackBerry (BB) gained almost 7%.