Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday’s holiday-shortened trading day, hitting more records.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 22.26 points (0.3%) to 6,932.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 288.75 points, or 0.6%, to close at 48,731.16, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 51.46 points, or 0.2%, to close at 23,613.31.
Trading was extremely thin as the market closed early on Christmas Eve and was closed on Thursday for Christmas. About 1.8 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, about a third of the average trading day.
The market will resume full-day trading on Friday. However, volume is expected to remain low this week as most investors have closed out their positions for the year.
The S&P 500 is up more than 17% this year as investors embrace the Trump administration’s deregulatory policies and are optimistic about the future of artificial intelligence, which will help boost profits for U.S. companies as well as technology companies. Some of the best performing companies this year include Nvidia and Micron Technologies. Both companies make chips and other components that are driving the proliferation of data centers across the country.
In the coming weeks, much of the focus for investors will be on where the U.S. economy is headed and where the Federal Reserve will move interest rates. Investors expect the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged at its January meeting.
The U.S. economy grew at a surprisingly strong annual rate of 4.3% in the third quarter, the fastest expansion in two years, driven by consumers continuing to spend despite rising inflation. Recently, there have been reports that consumer confidence has been shaken due to concerns about high prices. The labor market is slowing and retail sales are weak.
Despite signs that the labor market is weakening, the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week and remains at historically healthy levels.
U.S. jobless claims fell 10,000 to 214,000 for the week that ended Saturday, down from 224,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Wednesday. This is lower than the 232,000 new filings predicted by analysts surveyed by data firm FactSet.
Dynavax Technologies soared 38.2% after Sanofi announced it would buy the California-based vaccine maker in a deal worth $2.2 billion. The French drugmaker plans to add Dynavax’s hepatitis B vaccine and the still-in-development shingles vaccine to its portfolio.
Novo Nordisk shares rose 1.8% after the company received approval from U.S. regulators for a tablet version of its blockbuster drug Wegovy. But Novo Nordisk’s stock price is still down nearly 40% this year, and the company faces increased competition in weight-loss drugs, particularly from Eli Lilly. Eli Lilly stock is up 40% this year.
European markets fluctuated between slight gains and declines. Asian markets were also quiet, with Hong Kong rising 0.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.1%.
Gold prices were flat at $4,502 an ounce, while silver rose 0.8% to $71.69. US crude oil was flat at $58.38 per barrel.
