US stocks drift to more records on a holiday-shortened day of trading

Options trader Steven Rodriguez, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Wall Street closed higher and reached more records Wednesday on a holiday-shortened trading day.

The S&P 500 index rose 22.26 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6,932.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 288.75, or 0.6 per cent, to close at 48,731.16, and the Nasdaq composite added 51.46, or 0.2 per cent, to 23,613.31

Trading was extremely light as markets closed early for Christmas Eve and will be closed for Christmas Thursday. Roughly 1.8 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, which is roughly a third of the average trading day.

Markets will reopen for a full day of trading on Friday; however volumes are expected to remain light this week with most investors having closed out their positions for the year.

The S&P 500 is up more than 17 per cent this year, as investors have embraced the deregulatory policies of the Trump administration and been optimistic about the future of artificial intelligence in helping boost profits for not only technology companies but also for Corporate America. Some of the strongest performers this year include Nvidia and Micron Technologies, both companies that make chips or other components that power the proliferation of data centers across the country.

Much of the focus for investors for the next few weeks will be on where the U.S. economy is heading and where the Federal Reserve will move interest rates. Investors are betting the Fed will hold steady on interest rates at its January meeting.

The U.S. economy grew at a surprisingly strong 4.3 per cent annual rate in the third quarter, the most rapid expansion in two years, driven by consumers who continue to spend in the face of ongoing inflation. There have also been recent reports showing shaky confidence among consumers worried about high prices. The labor market has been slowing and retail sales have weakened.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week and remain at historically healthy levels despite some signs that the labor market is weakening.

U.S. applications for jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 20 fell by 10,000 to 214,000 from the previous week’s 224,000, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. That’s below the 232,000 new applications forecast of analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet.

Dynavax Technologies soared 38.2 per cent after Sanofi said it was acquiring the California-based vaccine maker in a deal worth US$2.2 billion. The French drugmaker will add Dynavax’s hepatitis B vaccines to its portfolio, as well as a shingles vaccine that is still in development.

Novo Nordisk’s shares rose 1.8 per cent after the weight-loss drug company got approval from U.S. regulators for a pill version of its blockbuster drug Wegovy. However, Novo Nordisk shares are still down almost 40 per cent this year as the company has faced increased competition for weight-loss medications, particularly from Eli Lilly. Shares of Eli Lilly are up 40 per cent this year.

European markets moved between slight gains and losses. Asian markets were also quiet, with Hong Kong moving up 0.2 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.1 per cent.

Gold prices were flat at US$4,502 an ounce, and silver rose 0.8 per cent to US$71.69. U.S. crude oil was flat at US$58.38 a barrel.

Matt Ott and Chan Ho-him, The Associated Press