Investors close out their positions for the year

NEW YORK, Dec 30, (AP): Stocks were modestly higher on Thursday, helped by a bit of good economic data. Trading was relatively quiet with many investors having closed out their positions for the year.

The S&P 500 index was up 0.3% as of 10:15 am Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2% and the Nasdaq was up 0.6%.

Companies that rely on consumer spending as well as energy and materials companies led the gains. Travel and leisure companies also rose, including Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival, and Wynn Resorts. Media companies were also higher, including Discovery Communications, Viacom and DISH Network.

Investors got a couple bits of good news to close out the year. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell below 200,000, more evidence that the job market remains strong in the aftermath of last year’s coronavirus recession.

Meanwhile the Chicago Purchasing Manager Index, a gauge of manufacturing and economic activity, came in at 63.1 for December. That’s slightly better than the reading of 62.0 that economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Investor concerns about the omicron variant have eased after researchers said it appears to cause less severe symptoms and President Joe Biden avoided announcing travel or other restrictions that might weigh on economic activity.

Still, markets are uncertain about the impact of omicron, which is spreading fast and quickly becoming the dominant variant.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was mostly unchanged at 1.54%.

London and Frankfurt opened lower and Tokyo and Seoul also declined. Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced.

Markets are “hanging onto thin optimism” while health care resources do a “balancing act,” Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank said in a report.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.1% to 7,411.22 and Frankfurt’s DAX shed less than 0.1% to 15,844.18. The CAC 40 in Paris advanced less than 0.1% to 7,163.96.

The S&P 500 is on track for a gain of more than 27% in 2021.

The benchmark, which also set records on Monday and on Dec. 23, hit more new highs in 2021 than in any year since the 77 in 1954. The Dow set a record in early November.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6% to 3,619./19 after a deputy commerce minister said China’s total trade is forecast to grow 20% in 2021 over a year earlier.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 0.4% to 28,791.71 while Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 0.1% to 23,112.01.

The Kospi in Seoul declined 0.5% to 2,977.65 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added less than 0.1% to 7,513.40.

India’s Sensex gained 0.1% to 57,887.26. New Zealand and Bangkok gained while Singapore and Jakarta retreated.

Investors have been encouraged by stronger corporate profits and advances in vaccine development and virus treatment.

That has been tempered by the Federal Reserve’s decision to try to cool U.S. inflation, which is at a nearly four-decade high, by rolling back stimulus that has boosted stock prices.

Investor concerns about the omicron variant eased after researchers said it appears to cause less severe symptoms and President Joe Biden avoided announcing travel or other restrictions that might weigh on economic activity.

Still, markets are uncertain about the impact of omicron, which is spreading fast and quickly becoming the dominant variant.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude lost 13 cents to $76.43 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract advanced 58 cents to $76.56 on Wednesday. Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, gained 16 cents to $79.05 per barrel in London. It closed 29 cents higher the previous session at $79.23.

The dollar rose to 115.14 yen from Wednesday’s 114.97 yen. The euro declined to $1.1307 from $1.1344.