U.S. Stocks Advance, While Treasuries Fluctuate: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose as data signaled economic strength, with traders assessing the latest developments on the omicron coronavirus variant.

The S&P 500 climbed for a second day, the dollar fell and bonds fluctuated. Pfizer Inc. advanced as its Covid-19 pill gained clearance for emergency use in the U.S. Amazon.com Inc. rebounded from session lows, following a drop of over 1% after Bloomberg News reported the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is pushing forward with antitrust scrutiny of the company’s cloud computing business.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes increased for a third consecutive month in November, while consumer confidence climbed in December by more than expected as Americans’ outlook for employment and the economy improved. Infection with omicron may be far less likely to land patients in the hospital than cases involving the delta strain, according to early study data out of Scotland and South Africa.

“Many investors believe that omicron would only have a temporary impact on the economic activity and should not be a problem for the overall positive trend in equities,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Group.

What to watch this week:

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda speaks Thursday
U.S. initial jobless claims, personal income, durable goods, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, new home sales on Thursday
Friday: U.S. markets are closed. European markets close earlier

For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The S&P 500 rose 0.6% as of 2:40 p.m. New York time
The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
The MSCI World index rose 0.7%

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1328
The British pound rose 0.7% to $1.3355
The Japanese yen was little changed at 114.21 per dollar

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.46%
Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.29%
Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 0.89%

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.6% to $72.98 a barrel
Gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,802.80 an ounce

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