By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shashank Nayar
(Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes inched higher on Monday, looking to extend a market recovery from the pandemic shock into the new year, while shares in heavyweight Tesla jumped after the electric carmaker posted bumper delivery numbers.
Tesla climbed 9.0% after the company’s quarterly deliveries exceeded Wall Street estimates, riding out global chip shortages as it ramped up production in China.
The stock gave the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, followed by Apple and Nvidia.
The banking index added 2.7%, with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo gaining 1.8% to 4.6%, tracking a jump in U.S. Treasury yields as investors expected a series of U.S. interest rate hikes this year. [US/]
Shares of oil majors Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp gained more than 1% each as crude prices rose on tight supply and hopes of a further demand recovery in 2022. [O/R]
The S&P 500 energy index was the top sectoral performer in 2021 with a 47.7% rise – its biggest yearly gain ever – as surging oil prices turbo-charged corporate profits.
“There is certain optimism that we are seeing at the start of the year with a general sense that the Omicron variant won’t do quite the damage to the economy as the market initially thought it would,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments.
“But, we cannot replicate 2021 gains as we expect some curbs in corporate earnings growth.”
At 10:20 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 90.66 points, or 0.25%, at 36,428.96, the S&P 500 was up 13.18 points, or 0.28%, at 4,779.36, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 82.09 points, or 0.52%, at 15,727.06.
All of Wall Street’s main indexes ended 2021 with monthly, quarterly and annual gains, recording their biggest three-year advance since 1999.
The benchmark S&P 500 added 27% in 2021 and reported 70 record-high closes, its the second-most ever, in a tumultuous year hit by new COVID-19 variants and supply chain shortages.
The Dow added 18.7% for the year and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 21.4%.
Weighing on the markets, Pfizer and BioNTech fell 3.2% and 5.6% even as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15 years.
Overall, the healthcare index was down 1.4%.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.61-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.27-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 16 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 70 new highs and 43 new lows.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
