Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500 hit intraday highs, Bitcoin slips

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A year-end rally shows little sign of stopping. Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

Shares rose slightly on Thursday, continuing a string of recent gains as two major indexes set intraday records. There weren’t many headlines in the market on Thursday, leaving Santa’s rally to continue.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had retreated from its morning highs Thursday at noon, after setting an intraday high of 36,679.44. The index was up 8 points, or less than 0.1%, at lunchtime. This is the seventh consecutive gain for the Dow Jones, which closed at a record high Wednesday for the first time since November 8.

The S&P 500 Index also set an intraday high in morning trading on Thursday, before falling back to equilibrium. It was up 0.1% by midday, still in the right direction for his 71st closing record of the year. The Nasdaq Composite was around 0.6% higher and less than 1.5% lower than the all-time high reached last month.

The seasonally adjusted number of people claiming unemployment benefits for the first time fell to 198,000 for the week ended Dec. 25, according to the Labor Department on Thursday morning. This is a decrease of 8,000 initial jobless claims week over week and below the 205,000 expected.

This brings the average of the last four weeks to less than 200,000, the lowest since 1969. It is a market of job seekers.

Trading remains calm during the holiday season, with activity well below average on the US stock exchanges. Tuesday and Wednesday were among the lowest trading volume days of 2021.

With no major news or substantial economic data this week, seasonality appears to be in control. Historically, the stock market has tended to rise during the last trading days of each year, which is known as the Santa Claus rally. This year was no exception.

Markets appear confident that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, although more contagious than the other variants, will at worst only temporarily derail the economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Despite global increases in Covid cases, the markets are reflecting the new reality that Covid is here to stay, albeit more on our terms than his,” wrote Kevin Philip, managing director of Bel Air Investment Advisors. “The data from South Africa regarding hospitalizations and the new updated CDC guidelines are truly encouraging.”

“Next year, in my opinion, we are facing a world less influenced by Covid and a return to normalcy,” added Philip. “The United States has put in place a new infrastructure program, with a lower likelihood of higher personal and corporate tax rates. We also have a friendly Federal Reserve, which the market says is responsibly accelerating the end of quantitative easing. ”

Treasury markets did not signal a plethora of economic optimism on Thursday, however. Short-term treasury bill yields edged up, while long-term bond yields declined. This is a flattening of the Treasury yield curve, after a sharp steepening on Wednesday. The yield on the closely watched 10-year Treasury note edged down to 1.53%, still close to its highest levels in a month.

Overseas stock markets also rose broadly on Thursday: the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.6% and the Euro Stoxx 600 index closed up less than 0.2%. The Japanese Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4%.

Oil prices were slightly higher, with West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.6% to $ 76.91 per barrel. This price started in 2021 at around $ 50.

In the cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin continued to decline. The price fell less than 1%, to around $ 47,500, bringing the declines that started at the start of this week to almost 10%. The fall was even more pronounced for Ether, the token that underpins the Ethereum network and the second leading crypto. Ether fell 1% to around $ 3,740, after going down to $ 4,100 earlier this week.

Here are six stocks in motion Thursday:

Biogen stock (ticker: BIIB) fell nearly 8% in Thursday’s trading – the worst performance of the S&P 500 – after the Samsung Group denied reports it was in talks to acquire the drugmaker. Shares had climbed 9.5% on the news on Wednesday.

Shares of Kroger (KR) rose 0.5% after the board of directors of the grocery chain approved a billion dollar share buyback plan.

Shares of Micron Technology (MU) fell 0.9% after the memory chipmaker said lockdowns linked to Covid-19 in China would limit production.

Tesla (TSLA) stock reversed an early morning decline to trade up 0.7%. The electric vehicle giant is recalling nearly half a million Model 3 and Model S models over issues with the sedans’ trunk, which could cause their backup cameras to malfunction.

Nio’s U.S. certificates of deposit (NIO) – China’s response to Tesla – jumped 13.7%, recovering from a large loss on Wednesday.

China Evergrande (3333.HK) fell 9.1% in Hong Kong trading following reports that the troubled and heavily leveraged real estate giant had missed the coupon payments on offshore bonds, triggering a grace period of 30 days before the defect can be declared.

Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]

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