A new $900 billion US stimulus package, long anticipated, did little to the US stock market last week, with major stock indexes little changed. The small-cap and technology stocks continued to outperform as they have in the previous weeks. The shortened trading week due to the Christmas holidays ignored mixed economic news. 

The Gross Domestic Product Annualized (Q3) came in at 33.4%, better than the consensus of 33.1%, but both Personal Income and Personal Spending took a hit. Personal spending came in at -0.4%, worse than the forecast of -0.2%. The Personal Income figure was -1.1%, worse than the consensus of -0.3%.

The Durable Goods Orders were a positive surprise with a figure of 0.9%, beating the consensus of 0.6%.

The Continuing Jobless Claims and Initial Jobless Claims both were reported better than expected. The Continuing Jobless Claims figure was 5.337 M, compared to the consensus of 5.558 M. The Initial Jobless Claims number came in at 803 K, less than the forecast of 885 K.

On the negative side, the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index released came in at 80.7, less than the forecast of 81.3.

For the week of December 21- December 24, 2020, the major US stock market indexes closed as follows on Thursday, December 24, 2020:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: Close 30199.87, -0.34% for the week, +5.82% Year-to-date

• S&P 500 Index: Close 3703.06, -0.52% for the week, +14.62% Year-to-date

• Nasdaq Composite: Close 12804.73, +0.31% for the week, +42.71%, Year-to-date

• Russell 2000: Close 2003.95, +1.31% for the week, +19.45% Year-to-date

Weekly Stocks Gainers

Weekly Stocks Losers

These are the top 3 stocks that had 5 days of consecutive price declines:

1. Tuanche Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:TC), Close 3.63, 5-day change -36.32%

2. CRH Medical Corp (NYSEARCA:CRHM), Close 2.17, 5-day change -25.68%

3. Nikola Corp (NASDAQ:NKLA), Close 13.75, 5-day change -20.15%

Economic events for the week December 28- December 31, 2020:

Important economic data for the next week will be the weekly Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, Pending Home Sales, and the Chicago PMI.

Sources:

https://www.wsj.com/market-data/stocks/us/indexes

https://www.barchart.com

https://www.fxstreet.com/economic-calendar