The S&P 500 climbed to a record high close on Wednesday and the Nasdaq Composite Index dipped as investors weighed upbeat vaccine developments and a potential coronavirus fiscal package against a bleak private jobs report.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average notched record closing highs on Monday as news of another promising coronavirus vaccine fanned hopes of eradicating Covid-19, while spiking infections and new shutdowns threatened to hobble a recovery from the pandemic recession.
The S&P 500 ended higher but closed just shy of a record on Monday as investors bet that a full economic reopening was finally in sight following the first positive data from a late-stage Covid-19 vaccine trial.
Wall Street’s three major indexes tumbled on Tuesday, with the Dow registering its biggest quarterly decline since 1987 and the S&P 500 suffering its deepest quarterly drop since the financial crisis on growing evidence of massive economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic.
Wall Street stocks surged to fresh records on Thursday after the US Senate approved a new North American trade pact, adding to the momentum from the US-China trade deal. All three major indices finished at all-time highs, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 267.42 points (0.92%) at 29,297.64.
World stocks inched to a record high on Thursday after the United States and China signed a deal to defuse their 18-month trade war, which has weighed on global economic growth and hampered investments.
Wall Street stocks finished at records again on Monday, with an executive shakeup at Boeing lifting the Dow, as a holiday-shortened week opened with a flourish. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 96.44 points (0.34 percent) to finish the last full session before Christmas at 28,551.53.
The US economy created many more jobs than expected in December, according to the latest government data. Employers added 312,000 jobs, far ahead of predictions of 177,000, the Labor Department said.
United States share markets suffered on Wednesday their sharpest one-day falls in months, as fears about rising interest rates, inflation, trade tensions intensified. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the declines, sliding 4%, or 315.9 points, to 7,422. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 also fell by more than 3%, with losses accelerating towards the end of the day. Netflix fell 8%, while Amazon slid 6%.