Dow Jones Industrial Average finds the green on Wednesday, pushes over 39,000.00

• Dow Jones climbs in the midweek session as other indexes flounder.
• A quiet schedule on the economic calendar for the day leaves equities adrift.
• Coming up on Thursday: US PPE, Retail Sales data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) found topside momentum on Wednesday, tapping into an intraday high of 39,200.00 as the index outperforms its peers in the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite. The NASDAQ Composite is down close to a fourth of a percent on the day, with the S&P 500 churning close to flat.

A thin showing on the economic calendar for Wednesday leaves equities in the lurch and struggling to find firm momentum in either direction. Markets will be gearing up for Thursday’s US Producer Price Index (PPI) and Retail Sales figures. Friday will wrap up the trading week with the next round of University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment indicators.

Despite a softer overall index stance, US stocks are seeing determined gains in the midweek session, with the Energies and Materials Sectors gaining 1.9% and 1.22%, respectively. The notable weak point is the Technology Sector, which is down nearly a full percent as investors pull back from a recent dogpile into tech stocks.

Dow Jones Industrial Average news

As the American market session heads into the back half of the trading day, the DJIA’s top performer is 3M Co. (MMM), which has added nearly 4% to trade into $102.60 on Wednesday. 3M continues to rally after the company recently announced that William Brown, the former leader at L3Harris Technologies, would take the helm at 3M as the new CEO. MMM is down steeply from 2017’s all-time highs above $225 per share, and is recovering into $102.77 per share after dipping to $91.25 earlier this year.

Intel Corp. (INTC) and McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) competed for the biggest loser on the Dow Jones on Wednesday. Both stocks were down around 3.5% on the day. Intel, according to reporting by Reuters, has an unfair advantage over its nearest competitor, AMD, with a specially-issued license issued by the US government under former President Donald Trump. Intel has special permission to supply chips to Chinese tech giant Huawei, and that advantage could come under threat as AMD seeks remediation, even as Intel export volumes to China decline following an increased export ban of technology to China.

Dow Jones Industrial Average technical outlook

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed back over the 39,000.00 handle on Wednesday, marking in a fresh high for the week at 39,200.00 and extending a bullish push beyond the 200-hour Simple Moving Average (SMA) near 38,890.00. The 39,000.00 major price level has been a key price point that the DJIA has struggled to escape recently, but a supply zone near 38,600.00 is limiting near-term losses on pullbacks.

The Dow Jones is set for a third straight bullish close on Wednesday, and would mark in a fifth bul candle out of the last six. The index, despite near-term consolidation, is trading firmly into bull country, with the 200-day SMA well below current price action at 35,615.00.

Dow Jones Industrial Average, 1-hour chart