The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 registered record closings on Thursday, the last trading day of 2020, when a volatile year, brutally interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, came to an end.
The Dow ended up 196 points, or 0.65%, to 30,606.48, while the S&P 500 rose 0.64% to 3,756.07 and the Nasdaq rose 0.14% to 12,888.28.
Dow and S&P also reached intraday highs.
In the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached 7.2%. It ended 2019 at 28,538.44.
The S&P 500 rose 16.3% in 2020, having closed 2019 at 3,230.78.
And Nasdaq Composite advanced 43.6% this year. It ended 2019 at 8,972.60.
As of Wednesday, stocks had ended modestly high and the Dow Jones closed at a record high.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped from 19,000 to 787,000 in the week ending December 26, said the Department of Labor, the second consecutive drop.
Wall Street expected initial claims for unemployment benefits to increase to 828,000. The previous week’s total was revised upwards by 3,000 to 806,000.
“Initial claims for unemployment benefits have fallen somewhat, but at such high levels and with such large margins of error, they are essentially stuck at a painful and inflated level due to the increase in coronavirus,” said Robert Frick, Navy corporate economist Federal Credit Union.
As long as this increase continues, Frick said, “even with the stimulus, we can expect that more than 1 million Americans will lose their jobs weekly, based on state and federal measures.”
On the political front, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said Democrats would allow votes by limiting a shield of liability for technology companies and setting up a commission to examine the 2020 election if the Republican Party agreed to take a separate vote – or – a negative vote on sending $ 2,000 checks to most Americans, CNBC reported.
President Donald Trump demanded that Congress move all three issues when he agreed to sign a $ 900 billion Covid-19 aid package, but majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) ruled out direct payments of $ 2,000 as “socialism for the rich”.
The number of global deaths confirmed by covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has increased to almost 1.81 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. The cases of the virus worldwide have increased to 83.1 million.
The death toll in the US is 343,030, the highest in the world. The number of confirmed infected people in the United States was 19.8 million.
There were 201,555 new cases of coronavirus in the U.S. on Wednesday and a record 3,725 deaths, according to university data.
A highly contagious variant of the coronavirus that is spreading across the UK was discovered in California, a day after authorities in Colorado confirmed that the strain was found in a 20-year-old man.
Colorado health officials have also identified a second possible case of the new strain. Experts said existing vaccines must be effective against the new strain.
Exxon Mobil (XOM) – Get report indicated in a regulatory proceeding that it would likely record a fourth consecutive quarterly loss after writing off up to $ 20 billion in its upstream assets. The energy major’s shares closed down nearly 1% at $ 41.01.
Jill Soltau, chief executive of JC Penney, is leaving the retailer. The new owners of the chain, who emerged from the bankruptcy process earlier this month, have started looking for a new leader.
Simon Property Group (SPG) – Get report and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) – Get report, the two US shopping mall owners who bought Penney in the fall, said they were looking for a leader “focused on modern retail, consumer experience and the goal of creating a sustainable and long-lasting JC Penney”.
The stock exchange will close on January 1. The US bond markets closed at 2pm on Thursday, and no trading will take place on New Year’s Day.