“The market is underpinned by a great deal of momentum,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare, noting that the Federal Reserve and the newly-installed Biden administration are intent on taking sufficient measures to boost the economy.New data showed existing home sales in December rose more than expected, capping a strong 2020 as Americans took advantage of low borrowing rates to buy homes amid the upheaval of the coronavirus.
Among individual companies, Dow member IBM plunged almost 10 percent as it reported another drop in quarterly revenue. Intel, another blue-chip company, shed 9.3 percent despite reporting better-than-expected results as the chipmaker faces calls to outsource its manufacturing operations. Carnival dropped 2.5 percent as it canceled more cruises and extended its pause in business because of the coronavirus, announcing US cruises will be offline through April 30.