There are no Dow stocks hitting 52 week highs. There are no Dow stock 52 week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open up +13 points.

Tuesday the Dow was up +337.76 (+1.13%) at 30,199.31.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +5.82%.

There were 6 Dow stocks up Tuesday.

The Dow stock winners Tuesday were led by Apple (AAPL) 127.88 (+5.01%), Disney (DIS) 173.94 (+2.74%) and Travelers (TRV) 137.26 (+2.44%).

The Dow stock losers Tuesday were led by Salesforce (CRM) 220.15 (-0.51%), Walgreens (WBA) 41.33 (-0.36%) and Chevron (CVX) 89.37 (-0.08%).

The Federal Reserve ends its final two-day meeting of the year, with the release of its policy statement at 2 p.m. ET followed by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s news conference. Near-zero percent interest rates to support the economy during the coronavirus crisis aren’t expected to change, but central bankers could tweak their bond-buying program.

Investors grew more optimistic about Washington reaching a deal on another coronavirus economic relief package. However, a weaker-than-expected retail sales report put a damper on gains.

As of Tuesday, a record 112,816 people were hospitalized in the U.S. with Covid as the seven-day average of new deaths in the U.S. hit an all-time high of 2,491.

The government on Wednesday released its latest read on U.S. consumer spending, against the backdrop of pandemic-driven high unemployment and stricter Covid mitigation measures returning in many states. November retail sales dropped 1.1%, more than triple the expected decline. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity.

Mitch McConnell told reporters Tuesday that Congress won’t leave for the holidays “until we get a Covid package, no matter how long it takes.” A partial federal shutdown could happen this weekend if there’s no agreement on government funding.

McConnell explicitly acknowledged Joe Biden as president-elect for the first time after weeks of Republican delays in recognizing the 2020 election result. The Senate majority leader later warned Republicans not to object to the Electoral College outcome when Congress affirms Biden’s victory on Jan. 6. Still, some GOP members, including Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia, have refused to accept Biden’s win. Both incumbents face Jan. 5 runoffs that will determine whether McConnell and the GOP will keep control of the Senate.

European stocks are higher and Asian markets ended mostly higher.

The national average price of gasoline is up 1.8 cents at $2.190 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Nike (NKE) will report earnings on 12/18/2020 after the market close. Nike closed at 138.75 (+1.14%) on Monday 12/7/2020. It was a 52 week high.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Walgreens (WBA)

Walgreens (WBA) 41.33 (-0.36%) is down -29.90% year-to-date. Walgreens (WBA) YTD low was 33.36 on 10/30/2020. Walgreens has provided a +23.89% gain off the YTD low.

Financial Calendar

7:00 AM ET MBA Mortgage Applications

8:30 AM ET Retail Sales

9:45 AM ET PMI Composite Flash

10:00 AM ET Business Inventories

10:00 AM ET Housing Market Index

10:00 AM ET Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations

10:30 AM ET EIA Petroleum Status Report

2:00 PM ET FOMC Announcement

2:30 PM ET Fed Chair Press Conference