The major US stock indexes were mixed on Tues. The Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its winning streak to five days, but the S&P 500 Index slipped from a record high. The Dow gained 95.83 pts, or 0.26%, to close at 36,398.21. The S&P 500 index fell 0.10%.
Technology companies led US shares broadly lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite retreated 0.56%. After rallying sharply on Monday, chipmakers pulled back. NVidia (NVDA US) dipped 2% and Applied Materials (AMAT US) declined about 1.9%.
Covid drug makers closed lower. Pfizer (PFE US) fell 2% and Moderna (MRNA US) retreated 2.2%
According to a South African study, the immune response of people infected with omicron appears to increase protection against delta more than fourfold. If omicron displaces delta and proves more mild than past variants, “the incidence of Covid-19 severe disease would be reduced and the infection may shift to become less disruptive to individuals and society,” the South African scientists wrote according to CNBC.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was nearly unchanged at 1.4807%.
Gold prices settled higher for the third time in four sessions. The most actively traded US gold futures (Feb) contracts settled up $2.10, or 0.1%, at US$1,810.90/oz. March silver, which is the most actively traded silver futures, rose 13.2 cents, or 0.6%, to end at US$23.121/oz.
The ICE dollar index (DXY), which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.11% to 96.202.
Oil futures settled higher on Tuesday to notch their fifth-consecutive win. The front-month Brent and WTI futures closed up 34 cents at US$78.94/bbl and 41 cents at US$75.98/bbl respectively.
European equity markets finished higher on Tue. France's CAC 40 rose 0.57%, the German DAX advanced 0.81%, while markets in the UK and Ireland remained closed due to Christmas festivities