Wall Street’s rally stretches into second day
Stocks jumped Tuesday, with the S&P 500 extending a rally as investors shook off concerns over the severity of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The benchmark index rose 2.1 percent, adding to a gain of 1.2 percent Monday, for its best twoday stretch in a year. The Nasdaq composite gained 3 percent. Shares of big tech stocks helped lead the rally.
The S&P 500 has nearly erased declines that left the index down more than 3 percent after the omicron variant was first disclosed. Though much remains unknown about the variant, the gains have come amid optimism about its potency: Researchers in South Africa said patients were much less sick than those they had treated before, suggesting the variant might be less severe than other forms of the virus.
Investors are also waiting for a snapshot on inflation Friday, when the Labor Department is set to publish its Consumer Price Index for November. Federal Reserve officials have signaled the central bank is ready to speed its pullback on monetary stimulus that has helped support the economy since the start of the pandemic. The Fed’s signaling comes amid ongoing supply chain disruptions and uncertainty over how the omicron variant could hamper the economic recovery.
Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, has said he expects central bank officials to discuss slowing bond purchases faster at the Fed’s next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 14-15, when they will have a better sense of the new variant and updated inflation data.
Powell signaled that the Fed’s standard for lifting interest rates when it comes to inflation, which have remained set near zero, had been met, meaning that central bankers would be looking to the job market as they weighed when, whether and how much to raise borrowing costs.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Lindsey Bell, chief markets and money strategist at Ally Invest. “There are still some known unknowns out there that could add anxiety into the markets.”
Oil prices also jumped Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, up 3.7 percent to $72.05 a barrel, and energy stocks were among the best performers in the S&P 500. Devon Energy Corp. rose about 6.5 percent Tuesday, while Enphase Energy was 4.5 percent higher.
Shares of Intel rose about 3 percent after the semiconductor manufacturer announced Monday that it planned to take its selfdriving unit, Mobileye, public.
A number of large tech companies were also higher, helping lift the broader market. Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft were all up more than 2.5 percent.