Monday, December 27, 2021
Airlines in the red
“Santa Claus Rally” on Wall Street
The US stock markets continued their recovery course from the week before Christmas and closed much more firmly. Because many market participants were on vacation, trading is quiet. Contrary to the positive trend, airline and cruise company stocks are falling.
The US stock exchanges have made significant gains. After a cautious start, the indices rose steadily over the course of the year. The S&P 500 hit a new all-time high. the Dow Jones Index closed 1 percent higher at 36,302 points, the S&P 500 gained 1.4 percent. The technology-heavy one Nasdaq Composite was also quoted 1.4 percent stronger. There were a total of 2,268 (Thursday: 2,373) course winners and 1,113 (960) losers. 99 (116) titles closed unchanged.
Because many market participants were on vacation, trading went smoothly, and surcharges were made when sales were low. Concerns about the rapidly spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus were unable to curb the markets, as observers said there was a growing conviction among investors that swift booster vaccinations and the wider availability of drugs to treat Covid infections should contain the pandemic and its consequences. Luca Paolini from Pictet Asset Management described the situation as “serious, but manageable”.
Should that change in the perception of investors, however, it will have serious consequences for the stock exchanges. Other topics apart from the pandemic were rare. There were neither important company dates nor economic data on the agenda.
Airlines and cruise lines under pressure
Contrary to the positive trend, airline and cruise company stocks fell. The airlines had to cancel numerous flights over the Christmas weekend because employees had tested positive for the Omikron variant and therefore reported sick. Omicron cases have also been recorded on cruise ships. The industry now fears renewed travel restrictions. However, the losses decreased in the course of the positive trend in the overall market.
American Airlines, Delta and United were between 0.5 and 0.8 percent in the red. Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival lost up to 2.6 percent. The industries sought included chip values, the Semiconductor index SOX reached record level. In four days it rose by around 8 percent. Were at the very front Advanced Micro Devices with a daily plus of 5.6 percent.
In the oil market, the participants were guided by the sinking concerns about Omikron, prices rose sharply and gained around 3 percent. Mizuho’s Robert Yawger said prices rose in line with stocks. The assurance from the Chinese central bank that it would provide more economic support also helped the price.
The European reference variety Brent rose slightly faster than WTI, according to observers in a CNN report that Saudi Arabia is producing ballistic weapons near Riyadh with Chinese help. An arms race is a good reason to buy Brent oil, said Oanda’s Jeffrey Halley. The dollar rebounded somewhat from the recent levy.
the Dollar index increased by 0.1 percent. Traders pointed to the fact that the greenback is still hovering in the recently developed ranges. The US Federal Reserve has “outlined a very aggressive tightening course”, and the risk is growing that the decision-makers “deliver too little,” according to the analysts at Forexanalytix.
The experts blamed this risk for the recent weakness of the dollar. At the moment, however, the market seems to be concentrating again on the upcoming interest rate hikes in the US, according to retailers. On the bond market, yields fell somewhat at the long end of the yield curve. Here, too, traders spoke of low sales that would have distorted price movements.