PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Monday after the long Christmas weekend, with a new record for the Standard & Poor’s 500 despite lingering uncertainties over the health and economic impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus .
In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 153.22 points, or 0.43%, to 36,103.78 points and the larger S & P-500 rose 0.61% to 4,754.68 after peaking at 4,755.70.
The Nasdaq Composite takes 0.6% to 15,746.89.
The New York Stock Exchange ended up Thursday before the extended Christmas weekend thanks to reassuring information on the dangerousness of the Omicron variant and solid economic indicators.
But the resurgence of contamination by the coronavirus at the global level continues to have repercussions on companies and could lead several countries to review their strategies in the face of the pandemic.
Airlines, which have had to cancel thousands of flights in recent days, fall in early trade: American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Delta and United Airlines lose between 2.2% and 3%.
Despite uncertainties about the pandemic, holiday retail sales grew 8.5% in the period Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 from last year, according to data from MasterCard SpendingPulse
“This bodes well for the economy as the New Year dawns. The rally will continue even though fear of the virus remains predominant in the market,” said Peter Cardillo, chief economist at Spartan Capital Securities.
(Laetitia Volga, edited by Marc Angrand)
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