Retail Reassurance Lifts Dow, S&P To Records

The Dow has now risen six straight trading days, marking the longest streak of gains since a seven-session run from March 5 to March 15 this year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance and Nike Inc rose 1.59 percent and 1.42 percent respectively against the backdrop of recent reports suggesting holiday sales were strong for US retailers.

Data on Wednesday showed the US trade deficit in goods mushroomed to the widest ever in November as imports of consumer goods shot to a record, as the coronavirus pandemic has limited spending by Americans on services.

Some early studies pointing to a reduced risk of hospital admission in Omicron cases have eased some investors concerns over the travel disruptions and powered the S&P 500 to record highs this week.

"The market started to recognise that the Omicron variant was in a strange way good news, because it will burn itself out more rapidly because it's easily transmissible, but it's less likely to overwhelm hospitals," said Jay Hatfield, founder and chief executive of Infrastructure Capital Management in New York. Still, he said Omicron arguably is going to be a headwind for at least the next month.

Meanwhile, the S&P 1500 airlines index dipped. Delta Air Lines and Alaska Air Group canceled hundreds of flights again on Tuesday as the daily tally of infections in the United States surged.

Typically, the final five trading days of the year and the first two of the subsequent year are seasonally strong for US stocks, known as the "Santa Claus Rally." However, market participants warned against reading too much into daily moves as the holiday season tends to record some of the lowest volume turnovers that can cause exaggerated price action.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25 percent, to 36,489, the S&P 500 gained 0.14 percent, to 4,793 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.1 percent, to 15,766. (Reuters)