U.S. stocks edged higher Wednesday morning following a mixed session as traders continued to assess the threat of the omicron Covid-19 variant.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 80 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.1%.
The moves come after the Dow notched its fifth straight day of gains. Investors are hoping to end the year on a high note with the S&P 500 returning more than 27% this year and the Dow up more than 19%.
The "Santa Claus rally" period encompasses the last five trading days of December and the first two of January. This is a historically strong period for the market, with the S&P 500 averaging a return of 1.7% since 1928.
Investors continue to monitor developments with the omicron Covid strain.
The U.S. has confirmed more than 4.1 million Covid cases this month, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That's well above November's tally of 2.54 million. The country's seven-day average of cases is also at 231,888 cases, more than triple the mean from Nov. 27.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week shortened its isolation recommendation for people who test positive from 10 days to five if they don't have symptoms. Research from South Africa also suggests that omicron infections can boost immunity against the delta variant.
Stocks were under pressure in late November, when news of the omicron variant first broke. They have since rebounded, however, with the S&P 500 up 4.8% for December.
The market has shown resiliency in the past few weeks as traders weigh the omicron variant and potentially tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve next year, Virtus Investment Partners' Joe Terranova told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Monday.
He noted, though, that the "risk profile of the market is clearly changing" due to the potential for higher volatility in the new year.
The market is "gravitating toward a more qualitative holding," Terranova said. "I don't think the market wants the speculative areas in which investors have been rewarded the last couple of years. That's the hyper-growth stocks."
Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.
"open" - Google News
December 29, 2021 at 06:02AM
https://ift.tt/3z3PT3r
U.S. stocks open flat as Dow aims to extend its 5-day winning streak - CNBC
"open" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bYShMr
https://ift.tt/3d2SYUY
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "U.S. stocks open flat as Dow aims to extend its 5-day winning streak - CNBC"
Post a Comment