Stocks open slightly higher; S&P 500, Dow hover near records

BEIJING – Stocks are opening with flimsy gains connected Wall Street Thursday, keeping the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovering conscionable supra the latest grounds highs they acceptable a time earlier. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% successful the archetypal fewer minutes of trading, led by gains successful banks, wellness attraction and concern companies, and the Dow was up 0.5%. Technology stocks lagged the remainder of the market, and the Nasdaq was small changed. European markets were besides modestly higher and Asian markets closed mixed overnight. The output connected the 10-year Treasury was small changed astatine 1.54%.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier communicative follows below.

Global banal markets were mixed Thursday aft Wall Street deed a precocious and caller regular U.S. coronavirus cases surged to a record.

London and Frankfurt opened little and Tokyo and Seoul besides declined. Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced.

Wall Street futures were higher aft the benchmark S&P 500 scale connected Wednesday deed its 70th grounds precocious of 2021.

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Optimism was tempered by information showing caller U.S. microorganism cases person risen to an mean of 265,000 per day, driven mostly by the much contagious omicron variant.

Markets are “hanging onto bladed optimism” portion wellness attraction resources bash a “balancing act," Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank said successful a report.

In aboriginal trading, the FTSE 100 successful London mislaid 0.1% to 7,411.22 and Frankfurt's DAX shed little than 0.1% to 15,844.18. The CAC 40 successful Paris precocious little than 0.1% to 7,163.96.

On Wall Street, the futures for S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up little than 0.1%.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 roseate 0.1% and the Dow added 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%.

The S&P 500 is connected way for a summation of much than 27% successful 2021.

The benchmark, which besides acceptable records connected Monday and connected Dec. 23, deed much caller highs successful 2021 than successful immoderate twelvemonth since the 77 successful 1954. The Dow acceptable a grounds successful aboriginal November.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index roseate 0.6% to 3,619./19 aft a lawman commerce curate said China's full commercialized is forecast to turn 20% successful 2021 implicit a twelvemonth earlier.

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The Nikkei 225 successful Tokyo shed 0.4% to 28,791.71 portion Hang Seng successful Hong Kong precocious 0.1% to 23,112.01.

The Kospi successful Seoul declined 0.5% to 2,977.65 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 added little than 0.1% to 7,513.40.

India's Sensex gained 0.1% to 57,887.26. New Zealand and Bangkok gained portion Singapore and Jakarta retreated.

Investors person been encouraged by stronger firm profits and advances successful vaccine improvement and microorganism treatment.

That has been tempered by the Federal Reserve's determination to effort to chill U.S. inflation, which is astatine a astir four-decade high, by rolling backmost stimulus that has boosted banal prices.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was lifted by gains successful wellness care, exertion and consumer-oriented stocks.

Investor concerns astir the omicron variant eased aft researchers said it appears to origin little terrible symptoms and President Joe Biden avoided announcing question oregon different restrictions that mightiness measurement connected economical activity.

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Still, markets are uncertain astir the interaction of omicron, which is spreading accelerated and rapidly becoming the ascendant variant.

In vigor markets, benchmark U.S. crude mislaid 13 cents to $76.43 per tube successful physics trading connected the New York Mercantile Exchange. The declaration precocious 58 cents to $76.56 connected Wednesday. Brent crude, the terms ground for planetary oils, gained 16 cents to $79.05 per tube successful London. It closed 29 cents higher the erstwhile league astatine $79.23.

The dollar roseate to 115.14 yen from Wednesday's 114.97 yen. The euro declined to $1.1307 from $1.1344.

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