US: Dow, S&P 500 finish first session of 2022 at records

[NEW YORK] Major Wall Street indices closed at fresh records on Monday and Apple briefly reached a US$3 trillion valuation in a bullish open to 2022, despite expectations for higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.7 per cent at 36,585.06, a record.

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 0.6 per cent to 4,796.56, also a record, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.2 per cent to 15,832.80.

The new landmarks come on the heels of a series of all-time highs in December as markets continue to bet the latest surge in Covid-19 cases won't derail economic growth.

Comments from health experts characterizing the Omicron variant as less lethal than earlier Covid-19 strains have boosted markets.

A bigger question mark is the shift in US monetary policy, with investors now betting that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this year.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note vaulted above 1.6 percent Monday, the latest indication of this expectation.

A note from Briefing.com said the rise in yields may reflect "an improving perspective on the economy."

Among individual companies, Tesla surged 13.5 per cent as it reported delivering more than 936,000 cars of all models in 2021, an increase of 87 per cent over the previous year following a strong fourth quarter.

Apple finished 2.5 per cent higher and a hair under US$3 trillion in market capitalisation in the latest demonstration of the tech industry's pandemic surge.

AFP