US close: Wall Street books another solid pre-Christmas session
Wall Street stocks booked their second positive day in a row on Wednesday, as market participants digested third-quarter GDP figures and continued to monitor Covid-19 headlines in the lead-up to the Christmas break.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.74% at 35,753.89, as the S&P 500 added 1.02% to 4,696.56 and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.18% firmer at 15,521.89.
The Dow closed 261.19 points higher on Wednesday, reclaiming further losses after turning things around on Tuesday.
“Investors [are] considering the slowing pace of economic growth in the third quarter, and weighing that against data which suggests the fourth quarter was cooking on gas right up until Omicron concerns blew out the pilot light,” quipped AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson.
“That said, the US seems to have had a pretty incredible year for growth as businesses throttled forward and exports increased to record levels.
“There may be trouble ahead, but according to President Biden at least, supply issues which have dogged businesses throughout the year seem to have eased, just in time for Santa to make his deadline.”
The ‘Omicron’ variant of Covid-19 was still firmly in focus on Wednesday after President Joe Biden urged Americans to get booster shots, stating those who did were "highly protected" against the coronavirus.
Biden also said that the White House would not be reintroducing any strict lockdown measures as a result of the fast-spreading new strain.
On the macro front, US mortgage applications fell 0.6% in the seven days ended 17 December, following a 4% slump in the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Applications to purchase a home fell 3.3%, while those to refinance a home loan rose 2.2%.
Elsewhere, US gross domestic product increased at a 2.3% annualised rate in the third quarter, according to the Commerce Department, with the economy on track to record its best full-year performance since 1984 despite an increased level of Covid-19 infections throughout the period.
However, while the GDP growth was an upward revision to the 2.1% rate estimated in November, it was still the slowest pace seen since the second quarter of 2020.
On another note, the Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index decreased to 0.37 in November from 0.75 in October, with all four of broad categories of indicators used to construct the index deteriorating from October, even as three made positive contributions.
Still on data, existing-home sales rose 1.9% month-on-month in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.46m, according to the National Association of Realtors, with three of the four major US regions reporting growth in monthly sales, while the fourth region held steady.
Lastly, the Conference Board's latest consumer confidence reading showed an increase in December following an upward revision for November, with the index jumping to 115.8 to 111.9.
The Present Situation Index, based on consumers' assessment of current business and labour market conditions, was relatively flat at 144.1, down from 144.4 in November, while the Expectations Index, based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labour market conditions, rose to 96.9 from 90.2.
In the corporate space, no major earnings releases were scheduled for Wednesday, although Tesla was in focus after chief executive Elon Musk said on a podcast that he had now sold enough shares in the company to meet his tax obligations.
The electric car maker was 7.49% firmer by the close.
Cybersecurity and internet technology company BlackBerry was ahead 1.73% after its quarterly results came in better than anticipated, while e-commerce and cloud technology behemoth Amazon eked out gains of 0.36%, even as its Amazon Web Services platform suffered its third spate of outages in a month.
Dow Jones - Risers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $198.34 1.94%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $333.20 1.81%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $175.64 1.53%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $487.31 1.42%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $390.47 1.32%
Visa Inc. (V) $215.38 1.20%
Boeing Co. (BA) $199.52 1.09%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $157.75 0.99%
American Express Co. (AXP) $160.91 0.97%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $50.41 0.90%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $166.63 -0.71%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $155.48 -0.53%
3M Co. (MMM) $172.94 -0.16%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $52.78 -0.02%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $230.94 0.00%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $54.20 0.06%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $252.55 0.10%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $139.62 0.13%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $264.40 0.21%
S&P 500 - Risers
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $133.41 5.52%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $68.59 4.58%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $215.17 4.15%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $362.21 4.06%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $76.57 3.77%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $37.34 3.72%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $20.54 3.46%
Abiomed Inc. (ABMD) $343.40 3.37%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $108.70 3.34%
Waters Corp. (WAT) $349.29 3.33%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Carmax Inc. (KMX) $136.99 -6.66%
Altria Group Inc. (MO) $47.77 -1.86%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $428.89 -1.81%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $91.51 -1.80%
Becton, Dickinson & Company (BDX) $251.83 -1.58%
Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) $91.03 -1.27%
Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) $330.45 -1.12%
ConAgra Brands Inc (CAG) $33.83 -1.09%
Westrock Company (WRK) $43.32 -1.06%
Target Corp. (TGT) $220.07 -1.06%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $1,008.87 7.49%
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $133.41 5.52%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $215.17 4.15%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $7.38 4.09%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $362.21 4.06%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $182.42 2.91%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $645.89 2.73%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $162.58 2.69%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $54.39 2.68%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $640.03 2.56%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $22.88 -2.89%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $428.89 -1.81%
Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) $330.45 -1.12%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $177.62 -1.01%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $143.48 -0.94%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $94.32 -0.77%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $639.79 -0.70%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $131.47 -0.53%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $85.87 -0.52%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $6.38 -0.47%