Wall Street on the rise as health fears subside

by Caroline Valetkevitch and Sinéad Carew

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange finished slightly higher on Wednesday, as investors hailed reassuring reports about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against the new Omicron variant, though uncertainties remain over changes in the health situation.

The Dow Jones index gained 0.10%, or 35.32 points, to 35,754.75 points.

The larger S & P-500 gained 14.46 points, or 0.31%, to 4,701.21 points.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced by 100.07 points (0.64%) to 15,786.99 points.

The three main Wall Street indices finished in the green for a third consecutive session.

Eight of the eleven major sectors of the S & P-500 advanced, including communications services and healthcare.

Pfizer and BioNTech said today that their full vaccination schedule, with third dose, was able to neutralize the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, according to clinical trials.

While travel sector headlines rebounded after this announcement, many investors remain concerned about new health restrictions that may be in place across the world to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

As expected, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday announced new measures to fight the resurgence of the epidemic in England due to the Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa and Hong Kong.

“The Nasdaq is doing well, the Dow Jones not so much. It is typically a risky day,” commented Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Investment Management in Chicago.

“A lot of things change based on information about the virus. It reopens more than anything else,” he said.

S & P-500 stocks expected to take full advantage of the reopening economy were among the strongest gains of the day, including Norwegian Cruise Line, which jumped 8%, Carnival Corp and Royal Carribean, both up more than 5%.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber rose 2.6% after Deutsche Bank raised its “buy” to “hold” recommendation.

Stanley Black & Decker recorded an increase of 3.3% after the announcement by the Swedish group Securitas of an agreement to buy its electronic security activities for 3.2 billion dollars.

(French version Jean Terzian)