PARIS / LONDON (Agefi-Dow Jones) – Futures on major New York Stock Exchange indices move higher on Monday as investors monitor the progress of the Omicron variant and other factors that could weigh on stocks This year.
At 12:45 p.m., the futures contract on the Dow Jones gained 0.5% to 36,422 points and that on the extended S&P 500 index gained 0.7% to 4,790.8 points. At the same time, the contract on the Nasdaq 100, rich in technology stocks, advanced 0.8% to 16,452 points.
While the S&P 500 gained nearly 27% in 2021, investors expect a more difficult course for equity markets this year. “It’s going to be a bit more rugged than 2021. The three big uncertainties that we ended the year with are still there: Omicron, inflation and supply chains, and the Fed,” commented Esty Dwek, manager. investments at FlowBank.
However, “there is definitely still some outperformance potential for the equity markets. I don’t expect a 20% hike, but we could see a double-digit rate,” she added.
Investor optimism is fueled by indications of less severity of symptoms associated with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which is prompting governments to calibrate health measures to limit the economic impact.
“There are a lot of cases but fewer people in hospitals and fewer deaths. This will reassure the markets,” said Geir Lode, head of global equities at Federated Hermes.
Oil prices are rising. The February contract on Nymex-listed mild light crude (WTI) took 74 cents to $ 75.95 a barrel.
VALUES TO BE FOLLOWED, variations in pre-opening:
-Tesla (+ 7%) announced an 87% increase in deliveries in 2021, the fastest growth in many years. In a statement released on Sunday, the electric car maker said it had delivered more than 936,000 vehicles in 2021, including 308,000 in the fourth quarter, exceeding the expectations of analysts who expected 266,000 deliveries in the last three months of the year.
-Apple (+ 0.5%). India announced on Friday the launch of an investigation into Apple’s practices in distributing mobile applications through its App Store. The Indian competition commission, in its order, suspects the Cupertino firm of having violated some of the country’s antitrust laws.
EVENTS TO COME:
-15h45: manufacturing PMI index – December
-4: 00 p.m .: construction expenses – November
-Caitlin Osroff, The Wall Street Journal (French version François Schott) ed: ECH
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Dow Jones Newswires
January 03, 2022 06:58 ET (11:58 GMT)