© Reuters.
By Peter Nurse
Investing.com – U.S. stocks traded higher in Thursday morning trading, leaving them poised to end the year strongly amid growing confidence the Omicron Covid variant won’t cause serious economic damage.
At 11 AM ET (1600 GMT), the was up 34 points, or 0.1%, the traded 6 points higher, or 0.12%, higher and the rose 63 points, or 0.4%. The outgained its large-cap peers, trading up .8%.
All three major indices are on course to close the year higher, with the and entering the day up 28% and 19%, respectively, and the up 22%.
Stock markets are rising on hopes fresh coronavirus-related curbs and restrictions may not be needed going into the new year, even as Covid-19 cases, largely of the Omicron variant, surge.
Helping the tone Thursday was the news of a study showing a booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:) single-dose vaccine was at preventing hospitalization in South African healthcare workers who became infected by the Omicron variant. Shares were up .6% in early trading.
Additionally, Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations are “comparatively” low, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said on Wednesday, as cases in the United States reached a record high.
Elsewhere, Micron (NASDAQ:) is in the spotlight after the chipmaker warned that strict Covid-19 curbs in the Chinese city of Xi’an could disrupt its chip manufacturing unit in the area. Shares are down 1.5% in morning trading.
Biogen (NASDAQ:) stock dropped 7.1% after Samsung (KS:) Biologics scotched media reports that it is buying the American biotech company. Biogen is slightly ahead of where it was when the reports came out, and several analysts have written notes supporting the rationale for BIIB to sell itself, whether to the Korean conglomerate or someone else.
Thursday’s main economic release, the weekly number, of 8K to 198,000 from the previous week’s 206,000, as last week’s number was revised up 1,000. Claims are a level that is generally consistent with pre-pandemic levels, though the 4-week moving average set a 52-year low.
Oil prices fell Thursday, handing back some recent gains but set to end the year with growing optimism that energy demand will prove resilient in the face of the omicron virus wave.
U.S. fell by 3.6 million barrels in the week to Dec. 24, according to data from the Energy Information Administration, released Wednesday, suggesting demand remains strong in the world’s largest energy consumer.
futures traded 0.5% higher at $76.93 a barrel, while the contract rose 0.4% to $79.53. The contracts are on course to post gains of between 50% and 60% in 2021, the biggest annual advances in more than a decade. This rise came amidst cuts from China , a bearish sign for oil demand.
Additionally, reversed earlier losses to trade up .27% to $1,810.75/oz, while traded 0.2% lower at 1.1324.
Other notable movers on Thursday include a bevy of casino stocks, including Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:) (4.3%), Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:) (+3%), and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:) (+2.8%). A handful of media and social media stocks, including Twitter (NYSE:) (+3.9%), ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:) (3.8%) and Discovery (NASDAQ:) (3.6%) are also seeing a bid. Both groups may be benefiting from the end of tax-loss selling as they have been either down for the year or significantly down from highs as we close out 2021.
On the flipside, Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:) is down 2.2%, while CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:) is down 1.6% and APA Corporation (NASDAQ:) is down 1.6%. Each of those have been big winners this year, so again there may be some rebalancing going on.
(Article published at 7am ET, updated at 9:07am ET and 11:16am).
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