By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened higher on Tuesday, with investors picking up some relative bargains after a four-day losing streak in which the spreading pandemic and the lack of fiscal action to support the economy have weighed heavily.
As of 9:40 AM ET (1440 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 188 points, or 0.6%, at 30,050 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both up 0.8%.
The market was helped at the margins by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledging Joe Biden as President-elect for the first time, a day after the Electoral College confirmed Biden's victory in November. Investors were unfazed by figures showing that U.S. industrial production growth had slowed in November to 0.4%, leaving it down 5.5% on the year. By contrast, China overnight had reported output growing 7% on the year, at close to its pre-pandemic levels.
Among early movers, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock stood out with a 3.4% rise on the back of a report suggesting it will increase production of this year's suite of iPhones in response to strong demand. Dropbox (NASDAQ:DBX) stock meanwhile edged 0.3% higher to a new 17-month high, still supported by speculation that the cloud storage company will be taken over.
By contrast, Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) stock fell another 4.5% as the post-IPO lockup on insiders selling their holdings expired. While most IPOs come with a six-month lockup period, the enterprise software company's lasted only three. It's now down some 20% from its high last week, albeit still up more than 25% from its debut day.
Another stock in negative territory was Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), which came off 4.0% in profit-taking after a run that saw it gain over 70% in the last three weeks. The Food and Drug Administration Tuesday released data analysing the stage 3 test of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine, putting it on track for a decision on emergency use authorization as early as the end of this week, according to the New York Times.
If approved, Moderna's vaccine would increase access to protection against the coronavirus at a time when it is still running almost unchecked through the U.S. The country posted a new record for people hospitalized with the virus on Monday, at over 109,000, while the seven-day average for deaths also hit a new record high. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday the city may need to move to a full lockdown again to stem the spread of the disease and take the pressure off the city's hospitals.