by Lewis Krauskopf, Shreyashi Sanyal and Bansari Mayur Kamdar
(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended sharply higher on Tuesday, rebounding after plunging the day before amid health concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, in the wake of gains in travel and technology stocks, while the results Nike and Micron’s quarterly fueled the rise.
The Dow Jones index gained 1.60%, or 560.54 points, to 35,492.70 points.
The larger S & P-500 gained 81.21 points, or 1.78%, to 4,649.23 points.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced by 360.14 points (2.40%) to 15,341.09 points.
The rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus across the world, a few days before the end of the year holidays, has revived uncertainties about the implementation of new health restrictions and the economic impact thereof.
Having become the majority in the United States, the Omicron variant caused a sharp increase in new coronavirus contaminations and made the markets volatile during the last month of the year.
In the aftermath of a session in the red, Wall Street was driven by the gains recorded by major technology stocks like Microsoft and Amazon, as well as by the rise in sectors most sensitive to the economy, including energy.
Travel-related titles jumped, like Carnival Corp, Las Vegas Sands and Expedia.
It is “clearly” a day of risk taking, commented David Joy, chief strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Boston.
“At least for today, it’s clear that investors are saying ‘we’re going to be able to navigate this Omicron wave and come out of it in good shape,'” he said.
Prized this month against a background of uncertainties, in particular health, the defensive sectors were neglected during the session.
In terms of values, Nike rose 6.1% after posting higher than expected quarterly revenue and profit on Monday evening and expressing confidence in improving tensions in supply chains for its next fiscal year. annual.
Micron Technology, which said it expected better-than-expected second-quarter profit, climbed 10.5%.
(French version Jean Terzian)
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