The 98th Annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange will take place on December 1, 2021.
Bryan R. Smith.
The US stock index futures were in the water on Thursday after notching another all-time high in a choppy session.
The futures on the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones rose about 0.05% as of 4:00 a.m. It was suggested a modest open later in the day. On Wednesday, Biogen soared.
The White House's chief medical adviser said Wednesday that the latest COVID-19 wave in the US could peak by the end of January. The US is on track to break its previous average record of 250,437 daily cases set in January after the seven-day average for infections hit 277,241 on Tuesday.
Kevin Philip, managing director at Bel Air Investment Advisors, said that the markets are reflecting the new reality that COVID is here to stay. It seems like a manageable virus in line with colds and flus now that it has vaccines, boosters, treatments and rising herd immunity.
US data later in the day is expected to show a fall in initial jobless claims below 200,000 for the week, which is likely to reinforce the bullish sentiment dominating markets.
The UK reported a daily record of 183,037 cases on Wednesday, and France reported a new record of 208,000 cases.
Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at brokerage IG, said that there should be room for some optimism given that Omicron appears to be replacing Delta.
He said that Omicron could bring a swifter return to normality because of the rapid spread, mild outcomes, and apparent ability to replace the deadlier Delta variant.
In early trade, the Euro Stoxx 600 was flat, while London's FTSE 100 was flat.
Evergrande missed two offshore bond payments on Tuesday, and the Chinese city of Xian was put under COVID-19 measures.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.1% while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.6%. The Tokyo stock market lost 0.4%.
The market could face different challenges in the future, according to John Hardy, head of currency strategy at Saxo Bank.
"While wrapping up a very impressive 2021, US equities may find the environment next year somewhat more difficult, with rising wages and inflation possibly weighing on margins and earnings growth, and the risk of tighter Fed policy putting pressure on valuations, especially if longer Treasury yields pick up next year," he said.
The psychology of investing in shares where long-term investors can find cheap assets is broken down by legendary investor Jeremy Grantham.
Business Insider has an original article.
