Wall Street Closes, Indices Still Poised for Big Annual Gains

Dec. 30 (Reuters) – Wall Street closed lower Thursday, retreating late in the meager holiday volume from the record highs reached early in the session on strong US data, including a decline in weekly claims for US unemployment benefits.

With one trading day to go, the S&P 500 would end the year higher than 27%, with the Nasdaq up about 23% and the Dow rising just under 20% year-on-year. Each of Wall Street’s major indices was poised for the strongest rise in three years since 1997-99.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 90.55 points or 0.25% to 36,398.08, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 14.33 points or 0.30% to 4,778.73 and the Nasdaq Composite ( .IXIC) fell 24.65 points, or 0.16%, to 15,741.56.

Four of the 11 major S&P 500 sector indices were higher, led by the real estate sector (.SPLRCR).

Investors applauded a US Labor Department report that the number of Americans filing new jobless claims fell to 198,000 seasonally in the week leading up to Christmas, from a revised 206,000 a week earlier. Economists surveyed by Reuters had predicted that weekly applications would rise to 208,000. read more

In other strong US data, Chicago’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) returned a figure of 63.1, a monthly increase of 1.3 points and 1.1 points above consensus.

A PMI number greater than 50 indicates extensive activity in the past month.

Stocks have recently risen on some of the thinnest trading volumes US stock exchanges have seen as a result of the holiday season. Investors were encouraged by growing evidence that the Omicron strain causes less severe infections from COVID-19 than the Delta strain.

On Wednesday, top US infectious disease adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, that the rise in cases of the Omicron variant should peak at the end of January. read more

“Strong Chicago manufacturer data and impressive initial jobless claims continue to show an economy that is fairly healthy, without the lingering concerns about the Omicron variants,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. .

Detrick warned that low trading volume during the holiday season could exaggerate price movements.

Stock markets have been in a seasonally strong “Santa Claus Rally” that typically takes place in the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the new year.

Of individual shares, Biogen Inc (BIIB.O) lost 7.09%, returning gains from the previous session as Samsung BioLogics (207940.KS) denied a media report saying the South Korean company was in talks to the American drug manufacturer. read more

Shares of Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) have seen losses of more than 20% so far, while the overall Dow Jones stock index is on track for a 19% gain for the year.

In 2022, investors will turn their attention to expected rate hikes in the US and midterm elections to the US Congress, where President Joe Biden’s Democrats now hold a slim majority.

“The medium years are generally the most volatile of the four-year cycle. There is actually an average peak-to-trunk correction of 17% during a six-month period, which is the largest of the four years. Detrick added: “Investors have been quite spoiled this year, so keep in mind that next year won’t be as easy.”

Volume on US stock exchanges was 8.08 billion shares, compared to the full session average of 10.83 billion over the past 20 trading days.

Emerging issues surpassed the falling on the NYSE by a 1.26 to 1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.47-to-1 ratio favored the advanced.

The S&P 500 made 64 new highs in 52 weeks and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 70 new highs and 141 new lows.

Reporting by Echo Wang in Taos, New Mexico; Additional reporting by Medha Singh and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V, Diane Craft and David Gregorio

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