The S&P 500 will open near the top of the Dow after a sudden drop in unemployment claims

Author: Medha Singh

(Reuters) – The Dow and Dow prices were set to open at around highs on Thursday, hitting a record as a shocking drop in weekly unemployment claims boosted confidence in the U.S. economy amid rising COVID-19 infections.

Labor Department data showed that the number of Americans who filed new unemployment claims fell to 198,000 at Christmas week, from 205,000 a week earlier. Economists surveyed by Reuters forecast 208,000 requests for the last week.

Stock prices have risen recently, although in some of the thinnest trading volumes seen by U.S. stock markets this year, there has been growing evidence that the Omicron variant causes fewer serious illnesses than Delta strains.

To help with the sentiment, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. chief infectious disease adviser, said Wednesday that an increase in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the United States is likely by the end of January.

“The lower severity of Omicron infection and the CDC’s shortened quarantine leadership are consistent with our view of increasing supply chain mitigation in early 2022,” wrote Scott Chronert, a U.S. stock strategist. Citigroup (NYSE :).

With Wall Street’s major indexes set to hit the year with the sharpest three-year hike since 1999, attention will be focused on the pace of rising US interest rates in the face of rising prices and supply chain blockages.

At 08:43, ET was up 54 points, or 0.15%, 6.75 points, or 0.14%, and 19 points, or 0.12%.

Among individual shares, Biogen Inc (NASDAQ 🙂 fell 6.6%, yielding some gains in the previous session, as Samsung (KS 🙂 BioLogics said the South Korean company was talking about buying drugs in the US after it denied a media report.

China’s Didi Global fell 4.7% after reporting a third-quarter drop in revenue as its domestic business suffered a blow as a result of regulatory crackdown.