London, Tuesday, 28 December 2021
The S&P 500 took a pause on Tuesday, finishing a bumpy trading session in the red after ending a four-day push toward another all-time high. As investors evaluated growing coronavirus cases, U.S. stocks were divided following seesaw action from all three major indexes in intraday trading.
COVID-Global According to Bloomberg, 19 cases set a daily record on Monday, with more than 1.44 million infections registered worldwide, breaking the previous record. Many of the newly documented cases were caused by infections from the highly transmissible Omicron variation, which has been discovered to spread 70 times faster than earlier strains. However, studies show that illness caused by the strain is less likely to be severe or result in hospitalizations.
The CDC also loosened its guidelines for quarantining those who have been exposed to the virus, reducing the recommended quarantine time from 10 to 5 days after a positive test.
December was a tumultuous month for investors as they assessed the strain's economic implications, but recent advances that suggest Omicron may produce a milder sickness have helped markets shrug off their fears.
As investors remained optimistic that the Omicron variant would not derail the global economic recovery, Europe's major stock indices closed higher on Tuesday, with Germany's DAX at a five-week high, the pan-European Stoxx 600 around record highs, and France's CAC 40 at a new all-time high.
In patients infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant, a new study from South Africa suggested that the Omicron strain reduced the risk of reinfection with the Delta variant, and papers published last week showed lower hospitalization rates and milder cases in patients infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Gains were driven by travel & leisure, healthcare, and industrial companies, with most sectors finishing in the black.
U.S. Stock Market Indexes
S&P 500: -4.70 (-0.10%) to 4,786.49
Nasdaq: -89.54 (-0.56%) to 15,781.72
Dow Jones: +96.29 (+0.27%) to 36,398.67
European Stock Market Indexes
STOXX Europe 600: +3.01 (0.62%) at 488.50 as at Dec 28, 6:00 PM GMT+1
FTSE 100 in London: -0.02% at 7,372.10 as at 29.12.21 00:55:40
DAX 30 in Germany: +128.45 (0.81%) at 15,963.70 as at Dec 28, 5:55 PM GMT+1
CAC 40 in France: +40.72 (0.57%) at 7,181.11 as at Dec 28, 6:05 PM GMT+1
FTSE MIB 30 in Italy: +428.71 (1.59%) at 27,444.93 as at Dec 28, 5:35 PM GMT+1
IBEX 35 in Spain: +66.80 (0.77%) at 8,688.90 as at Dec 28, 5:38 PM GMT+1
Other markets
Ten-year U.S. Treasury note: -1.6 bps to yield 1.484%
Dollar index: -0.06 or -0.06% at 96.15 as at Dec 28, 2021 at 8:06 p.m. EST
VIX volatility index: −0.14 (0.79%) at 17.54 as at Dec 28, 3:15 PM CST
Oil prices
Brent crude: +0.36 or 0.46% at $79.05 per barrel as at Dec 29, 2021 at 1:08 a.m. GMT
West Texas Intermediate: +0.30 or 0.39% at 76.30 per barrel as at Dec 28, 2021 at 8:10 p.m. EST
Precious metals
Gold: -7.86 or -0.43% at $1,804.52 an ounce
Silver: -0.07 or -0.29% at 22.98 an ounce
Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin: +385.40 (0.81%) at $ 47,927.60 as at Dec 29, 1:20 AM UTC
Ethereum: +28.67 (0.76%) at $ 3,822.34 as at Dec 29, 1:20 AM UTC
(Written and edited by: The Decision Maker)
