Nasdaq jumps 3%, Dow wins over 500 points

Key Wall Street stocks are gaining momentum for a second straight session as investors continue to watch the latest developments in the coronavirus’s micron mutation in hopes of confirming initial estimates that the new strain does not cause serious illness

The index closed strong gains on Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining 657 points or 1.9%, in the wake of the statements of the leading US epidemiologist Anthony Fauci that the first indications for the micron show that it is less dangerous from the delta mutation.

In a new statement to AFP today, Fauci said it was “almost certain” that the Omicron variant did not cause more serious illness than Delta, although he said people would have to wait “at least two more weeks” to find out. if this variant proves to be less dangerous than Delta.

GlaxoSmithKline’s announcement today that antibody therapy against Covid-19 developed by US Vir Biotechnology is effective against all mutations in the new coronavirus micron strain, according to the latest preclinical studies.

The data show that the companies’ treatment, sotrovimab, is effective against all 37 mutations that have been identified to date in the spike protein, as reported by GSK.

Indicators – Statistics

On the board, the industrial Dow Jones gained 519.45 points or 1.47% to 35,741.39 points, while the broader S&P 500 adds 96.97 points or 2.09% to 4,687.44 points. The technological Nasdaq with a jump of 469.34 points or 3.08% climbs to 15,695.31 points.

Of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones industrial average, 24 are moving with a positive sign and six with a negative one. The biggest gains were made by American Express with gains of $ 6.83 or 4.25% at $ 167.52, followed by Salesforce.com at $ 268.77 with an increase of 3.87% and Intel at 52.92 USD with gains of 3.79%.

The biggest losses are recorded by Merck (-1.98%), Verizon Communications (-0.62%) and Procter & Gamble (-0.33%).

Macro’s day, the U.S. trade deficit fell nearly 18% in October to $ 67.1 billion from a record $ 81.4 billion a month earlier, according to data released today. the US government.

Economists in a Wall Street Journal poll expected a deficit of $ 67 billion.

US exports jumped 8.1% to $ 223.6 billion in October, while imports rose less than 1% to $ 290.7 billion.

At the same time, unit labor costs in the US rose in the third quarter of the year more than initially expected, suggesting that inflation could remain high.

In particular, labor costs per unit of product increased by 9.6% in the July-September quarter, revised significantly higher than the initial estimate of 8.3% in November, according to data released by the labor ministry. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the increase in unit labor costs to be 8.3%, the same as in the original measurement.

The surge in labor costs is due in part to the fact that companies are paying higher wages in an effort to attract labor and fill labor shortages, and on the other hand to the continuing problems in supply chains due to the pandemic, which prevent them from growing. their productive capacity.

It is indicative that the hourly wage increased by 3.9% in the third quarter of the year, compared to the 2.9% that had been announced.

The increase in labor costs worked to the detriment of employee productivity, which was revised manually. Specifically, productivity fell in the third quarter by 5.2%, more than the 5% decline reported in November.