Dow, S&P 500 edge to fresh records

NEW YORK (AFP) - The Dow and S&P 500 edged to records on Wednesday (Dec 29), extending a rally as markets bet the highly contagious Omicron variant of Covid-19 will not significantly dent economic growth.

While the tech-rich Nasdaq dipped, the other two major indices pushed higher in a quiet session on Wall Street during a historically strong season known for producing a "Santa Claus rally."

"It's a positive drift in a thinly-traded market," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare. "There's really no news driving the market today."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2 per cent to 36,488.63, eclipsing a record last set Nov 8.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent at 4,793.06, narrowly overtaking Monday's record, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.1 per cent to 15,766.22.

Stocks have been on the upswing over the last week despite the soaring tally of infections as some data suggests the latest variant is less virulent than earlier strands.

The United States set a record seven-day average of 265,427 daily Covid-19 cases as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University, overtaking a previous all-time high in January.

An AFP tally also showed worldwide infections over the last week hit a record 6.55 million, up 37 per cent.

Among individual stocks, Victoria's Secret shot up 12.2 per cent after announcing that it will repurchase US$250 million (S$337 million) in company stock and confirmed an earlier sales forecast.

Biogen surged 9.5 per cent following a report in the Korea Economic Daily that the drugmaker is in talks to be acquired by Samsung Group in a deal valued at US$42 billion.