In this Nov. 23, 2020, file photo, a street sign is displayed at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
Stocks eked out modest gains Wednesday, keeping the major stock indexes on Wall Street at or near record highs.
The S&P 500 inched up 0.1%, recovering some of its losses from a day earlier. It's hovering within 0.1% of the record high it set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just above its own all-time high from Monday.
Energy and materials companies led the gains. Industrial and financial stocks also had a strong showing. Communication services stocks fell the most. Roughly 73% of stocks in the S&P 500 rose. Treasury yields mostly fell.
Small-company stocks again outpaced their larger rivals, a sign that investors are feeling more optimistic about the economy.
Stocks have been mostly grinding higher in recent weeks, with indexes setting new highs, amid optimism that coronavirus vaccinations will pave the way in coming months for the economy to escape from the pandemic’s grip.
“This is overall a market that’s setting the stage for 2021 and looking at an economy that is going to normalize, albeit at a probably slower pace than initially projected," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.
The S&P 500 index rose 5 points to 3,732.04. The Dow gained 73.89 points, or 0.2%, to 30,409.56. The Nasdaq composite picked up 19.78 points, or 0.2%, to 12,870. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies climbed 20.63 points, or 1.1%, to 1,979.99.
Ahead of the final day of trading in 2020, the S&P 500 is up 15.5% this year, while the Nasdaq is up 43.4%.
The modest gains came as the effort to develop and distribute vaccines to fight the virus pandemic intensifies. Britain has authorized the use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. The vaccine is considered easier to store and handle than others hitting the market. Earlier in December, both the U.K. and U.S. approved a vaccine made by Pfizer.
Meanwhile, vaccine development continues around the globe, with China’s Sinopharm becoming the latest to release encouraging study results.
Investors are optimistic about more vaccines gaining approval and reaching the market in coming weeks, though the potential for problems with their distribution remains a concern, said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist for LPL Financial.
“The hiccups are the actual rollout,” he said. “Approving them is one thing, but getting them out and into people’s arms is another thing.”
Treasury yields were mostly lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 0.92% from 0.93% late Tuesday.
Stock markets in Europe closed lower after European Union officials and British lawmakers approved a separation deal that will govern trade and other relations after the year ends. The U.K. left the EU almost a year ago, but remained within the bloc’s economic embrace during a transition period that ends this year.
Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.7% and Germany’s DAX slipped 0.3%. The CAC 40 in Paris dropped 0.2%.
Markets in Asia closed mostly higher, though Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.5% as the Tokyo exchange marked the end of trading for the year.
Traders in cryptocurrencies continued to push up the price of bitcoin, which has more than doubled the past three months. It rose 5.4% to $28,635, according to the tracking site CoinDesk. Bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange climbed 6.5% to $28,970. The futures allow investors to make bets on the future price of the digital currency.
Trading volume on Wall Street has been thin in the final week of 2020. The market will be closed for New Year’s Day Friday.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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