US: Stocks rally again after good consumer data

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks rose on Wednesday for a second straight session, joining European bourses in a pre-holiday rally following strong US consumer data.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index jumped nearly four points to 115.8 in December compared to the prior month. Concerns about inflation and Covid-19 lessened, although the report warned of continued "headwinds" from those issues in early 2022.

Cases of Omicron, the latest Covid-19 variant, continued to soar, but market watchers are becoming more confident the health effects will be milder than with earlier strains.

"There's usually a big rally at the end of the year in stocks anyway," said Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services. "This year, people are feeling better that Omicron won't be as bad as Delta."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7 per cent to 35,753.89.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 1.0 per cent to 4,696.56, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.2 per cent to 15,521.89.

Large tech companies had a good session, with Apple, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet all winning more than one per cent.

Pfizer rose 1.0 per cent as the US Food and Drug Administration authorised the company's Covid pill for high-risk people aged 12 and over, calling it an important milestone in the pandemic that will allow millions to access the treatment.

AFP