US Stock Markets Edge Higher; Initial unemployment claims are lower for Investing.com

By Peter Nurser

Investing.com – US equities rose in trading on Thursday morning, leaving Omicron Covid ready to end the year amid growing confidence that it will not cause serious economic damage.

At 11:00 (1600 GMT), it was up 34 points, or 0.1%, up 6 points or 0.12%, and up 63 points, or 0.4%. It surpassed the equivalent of large capital, trading up 8%.

The three main indices are on the verge of closing the year higher, rising by 28% and 19% on the day, respectively, and 22%, respectively.

Stock markets are on the rise in the hope that new coronary virus-related restrictions and restrictions will not be needed for the new year, although Covid-19 cases, largely Omicron variants, have risen.

Helping the tone on Thursday was reported in a study by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE 🙂 of a single-dose vaccine booster dose that prevented the hospitalization of South African health workers infected with the Omicron variant. Shares rose 6% in early trading.

In addition, the deaths and hospitalizations for Covid-19 are “relatively low,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday as a record number of cases were reported in the United States.

Elsewhere, Micron (NASDAQ 🙂 is in the spotlight after the chip maker warned that the strict limits on Covid-19 in the Chinese city of Xi’an could disrupt the chip manufacturing unit in the area. Shares fell 1.5% in morning trading.

Shares of Biogen (NASDAQ 🙂 fell 7.1% since Samsung (KS 🙂 Biologics reported that the media was buying the American biotechnology company. Biogen has made some progress on the spot when the reports came out, and several analysts have written notes that the BIIB accepts the reason for selling itself, whether to the Korean conglomerate or someone else.

Thursday’s main economic release, the weekly number, rose from 8K to 198,000 from the previous week’s 206,000, up from 1,000 last week. Claims are generally at levels consistent with pre-pandemic levels, although the 4-week moving average set a 52-year low.

Oil prices fell on Thursday, returning some of the latest gains, but the year will end with growing hopes that energy demand will be resilient to the wave of the omicron virus.

The U.S. fell 3.6 million barrels in the week to December 24, according to data from the Energy Information Administration released on Wednesday, suggesting that demand for the world’s largest energy consumer remains strong.

futures rose 0.5% to $ 76.93 a barrel and contracts rose 0.4% to $ 79.53. Contracts are on track to make a profit of between 50% and 60% in 2021, the highest annual growth in more than a decade. This rise was among the reductions in China, a sign of declining oil demand.

In addition, the previous loss fell to .27%, to $ 1,810.75 / oz, and was 0.2% lower at 1.1324.

Other notable players on Thursday were numerous shares of casinos, including Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ 🙂 (4.3%), Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ 🙂 (+ 3%) and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE 🙂 (+ 2.8%). A few media and social media shares, including Twitter (NYSE 🙂 (+ 3.9%), ViacomCBS (NASDAQ 🙂 (3.8%) and Discovery (NASDAQ 🙂 (3.6%) also offer they are watching. Both groups are likely to benefit from the end of the sale of tax losses, as they have fallen year-on-year or dropped sharply when we close 2021.

In contrast, Pool Corporation (NASDAQ 🙂 fell 2.2%, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE 🙂 1.6% and APA Corporation (NASDAQ 🙂 1.6%. Each of them have been big winners this year, so they may have to strike a balance again.

(Article published at 7:00, updated at 09:07 and 11:16).