PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange moved higher Thursday in early trading to set a record high for the Dow Jones, as the surprise drop in weekly jobless claims bolstered investor confidence in the US economy despite of the new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A few minutes after the opening, the Dow Jones index gained 0.44% to 36,648.32 points after an all-time high at 36,679.44 and the S & P-500 rose 0.2% to 4,802.46 points.
The Nasdaq Composite takes 0.11%, or 17.939 points, to 15,784,155.
Index futures briefly accelerated gains after the Labor Department reported 198,000 jobless claims in the week to December 25 from 206,000 the previous week as Reuters consensus gave them higher, to 208,000.
This statistic has reinforced the confidence of market players in the strength of the economy in the face of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus which, although more contagious than the previous strains, appears to cause fewer severe symptoms of COVID-19 and whose impact on the economy is weak, at least for now.
“The lower severity of Omicron infections and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for a shorter quarantine are consistent with our view that supply chain problems will gradually ease in early 2022” , said Scott Chronert, strategist at Citigroup.
At values, Biogen loses 5.35%, Samsung BioLogics having denied press information that it was in discussions to buy the American laboratory.
The Tesla automotive group yields 2.64% after the road safety authority in the United States announced the recall of more than 475,000 Model 3 and Model S for defects that could increase the risk of accidents.
(Laetitia Volga, edited by Tangi Salaün)
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