Stocks extend advance, while treasurys decline
Stocks extended gains as investor appetite for risk assets improved. Treasurys fell.
Energy shares led gains in the S&P 500. Micron Technology Inc., the largest U.S. maker of memory chips, jumped on an upbeat forecast, while Nike Inc. rallied as revenue in North America increased, offsetting a drop in China. Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. traded off session lows as Bloomberg News reported the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was set to authorize their pills to treat coronavirus as soon as this week.
Novavax's top executive said the company expects to have data on its Covid-19 vaccine's efficacy against the omicron variant within days. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson noted he doesn't plan to impose new restrictions on activities before Christmas. South Africa, where the omicron variant was first identified, saw daily infections slump to the lowest in two weeks.
"The omicron's potential damage to economic activity will be reasonably short and shallow," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities. "With household and corporate balance-sheets in good shape and sentiment still strong, we think it's reasonable to expect that the economy will manage to navigate the rough waters."
Earlier Tuesday, Credit Suisse Group's global investment committee slashed its stocks allocation to neutral from overweight, citing increasing risks from the omicron variant.
Stocks:
- The S&P 500 rose 1.2% as of 12:21 p.m. New York time.
- The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.2%.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4%.
- The MSCI World index rose 1.3%.
Currencies:
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
- The euro was little changed at $1.1270.
- The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3250.
- The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 114.17 per dollar.
Bonds:
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 1.48%.
- Germany's 10-year yield advanced six basis points to -0.31%.
- Britain's 10-year yield advanced 10 basis points to 0.87%.
Commodities:
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.6% to $71.08 a barrel.
- Gold futures fell 0.4% to $1,787.10 an ounce.
