Santa is on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange.
Ryan R. Smith is pictured.
US stocks are poised to attempt a third day of gains Thursday, part of a global rally driven by investors taking heart from positive reports on the impact of the Omicron coronaviruses variant.
The S&P 500 was 0.27% higher as of 6:30 a.m. The opening of the market was suggested to be a little higher later in the day, as the futures were up 0.17%. On Wednesday, the stock market surged for a second day.
The US stock and bond markets will be closed on Friday.
Positive US data on Wednesday gave markets a boost. The economy will keep growing in the first quarter of 2022, according to official figures.
GDP grew 2.3% in the third quarter, up from a previous estimate of 2.1%, according to Commerce Department figures. The second quarter jump was 6.7%.
Since the detection of Omicron in late November, stocks and other assets have had a bumpy ride, as markets swayed in response to fresh headlines. The impact of the new virus strain on economies was not as bad as feared.
The research suggests that people with Omicron may experience a milder illness than those with the Delta variant. Omicron infections have a lower risk of hospitalization.
The Omicron variant has an 80% lower rate of hospital admissions according to a study by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
"A cocktail containing better US Q3 GDP data, along with positive omicron headlines further inoculated financial markets against a year-end sell-off overnight," Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
In Europe, the pan-continental Euro Stoxx 600 was 0.6% higher in early Thursday trading.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there will be no new UK restrictions before Christmas. The UK had its first daily case above 100,000 on Wednesday.
British Airways parent IAG and Hungarian budget carrier Wizz Air were two of the best-performing stocks.
The city of Xian in China was locked down after 127 cases of the flu. It had no noticeable impact on regional markets.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.4%. Tokyo's Nikkei closed higher.
The Omicron news gave hope for future demand. The larger-than-expected decline in US inventories of crude helped.
West Texas Intermediate rose 0.4% to $73.07 a barrel, while the price of Brent crude was up by 0.3% to $75.56 a barrel.
The US dollar was little changed, inching up by just 0.05% to 96.16.
The top strategists at Goldman, JP Morgan, and more share their predictions for the S&P 500 next year, and how you should invest your money.
Business Insider has an original article.
