Christmas… on the Wall with a new S&P 500 record

Earlier, investors on Wall Street decided to celebrate Christmas this year, as despite the smaller trading volume due to the festive season, from the beginning of the meeting they showed that they are determined to lead the market higher and even managed to lead the S&P 500 to a new record. high.

The early “festive” mood of investors was fueled today by the optimism that the Omicron mutation, although worrying due to its super-transmissibility, will not derail the economic recovery.

Optimism based on recent studies from Britain and South Africa, which suggest that Omicron superconductivity may be milder than the Delta mutation, as early evidence suggests it causes fewer hospitalizations and more severe cases.

The positive mood was also strengthened by the latest from the pandemic front, as the “arsenal” against coronavirus is strengthened and enriched with new therapies. (yesterday) and Merck (today), while after the encouraging news about the booster doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against Omicron and AstraZeneca announced on Thursday that a laboratory study showed that the booster dose of the vaccine is effective against this new transmissible mutation.

The “elevated” investor sentiment was not limited by the not-so-encouraging macroeconomic data announced today in the US.

It is noted that the new applications for unemployment benefits remained at the same levels as last week, at 205,000 for the five-day period ended on December 18, while orders for durable goods increased by 2.5% last month.

Meanwhile, Americans’ consumer spending and personal income rose sharply in November, but inflation jumped again. In particular, consumer spending rose 0.6% last month, while personal income rose 0.4%, but on an adjusted basis for inflation, spending was unchanged in November, while disposable income fell 0.2%. .

The data showed that the price index for personal consumption expenditure, the Federal Reserve’s preferred index of inflation, climbed to 5.7% in November from 5% the previous month.

New home sales in the US, meanwhile, were lower than expected, at 12.44% in November, at an annual seasonally adjusted 744,000 units, while analysts set the bar at 766,000 units.

Consumer confidence, however, remains strong, with the University of Michigan Index improving significantly in December from November, climbing to 70.6 points (higher than the preliminary measure).

Indicators – Statistics

Thus, despite concerns on the one hand about the Omicron mutation and on the other hand about inflation and the course of the economy, investors managed to drive the market higher, although the indices closed slightly lower than their intra-conference highs.

In any case, the broader S&P 500 index will “celebrate” Christmas with a new record, as it strengthened by 60% and closed at 4,724.82 points, surpassing its previous record at closing at 4,712.02 points (on December 10). , but lower than its intra-conference high, and increased its weekly earnings to 2.3%.

The Dow Jones industrial average, although well above the psychological threshold of 36,000 points, failed to maintain this level and eventually closed at 35,950.63 points, up 0.55%. Today’s rise, however, was enough to close the blue chips index in the “clipped” week with gains of 1.7%.

In terms of technology, the Nasdaq ended the day with a rise of 0.85% to 15,653.40 points, expanding its weekly gains to 3.2%.

Of the 30 shares that make up the blue chips index, only five closed in the red (Visa with -0.61%, Merck with -0.56%, Walmart with -0.22%, Verizon with -0.17% and Travelers with -0.03%), while all the others ended the day upwards, with the titles of Caterpillar (+ 2%), Dow (+ 1.68%) and Honeywell (+ 1.67%) leading the profits .