Stocks Edge Higher In Quiet Trading
5:03 pm Thursday, December 30th, 2021
Stocks edged higher on Thursday, as gains in health care and communication companies outweighed a pullback in technology and other sectors.
Seasonal factors might be giving the market its upside bias with there being no discernible catalysts in this thinly-traded market. Small-caps, which have underperformed the large-caps this year, are benefiting from an opportunistic mindset on the hope that they will see better gains in the new year.
The upside bias has softened up, though. After 11 S&P 500 sectors were trading higher, five have slipped into negative territory. The consumer staples sector lags with a 0.3% decline while the consumer discretionary sector outperforms with a 0.4% gain. These price changes reflect muted trading conviction.
COVID-19 news has been mixed, such that the present situation remains challenging despite encouraging vaccine updates.
Briefly, the CDC upped its travel notice on cruise lines to Level 4, advising people to “avoid cruise travel, regardless of vaccination status.” Micron (MU) warned of potential delays due to the lockdown in the Chinese city of Xi’an. JetBlue (JBLU) is reportedly reducing its flight schedule in January.
On the vaccine front, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said data demonstrated its booster shot was 85% effective against hospitalization in South Africa when the Omicron variant was dominant. The FDA is expected to expand eligibility for Pfizer’s (PFE) booster shots to 12- to 15-year-olds on Monday, according to The New York Times.
The Treasury market has firmed up, pushing yields lower across the curve. The 2-yr yield is down one basis point to 0.74%, and the 10-yr yield is down two basis points to 1.52%. The U.S. Dollar Index is up 0.2% to 96.10.
