Dow rises modestly in Christmas Eve trade shortened to holiday

• The Russell 2000 RUT index,
  -0.42%
  closed 17.22 points, or 0.9%, ending at a record of 2,007.10.

• The Dow closed at 114.32 points, or 0.4%, closing at 30,129.83.

• The S&P 500 index ended 2.75 points, or 0.1%, higher to close at 3,690.01, closing a slide of 3 sessions.

• The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 36.80 points, or 0.3%, to close at 12,771.11.

What is driving the market?

Markets remain fixated on completing the coronavirus aid package and government financing legislation that Congress passed on Monday after President Donald Trump expressed his dissatisfaction with this.

On Wednesday, Trump, who asked lawmakers to increase direct payments to qualified individuals from $ 600 to $ 2,000, also vetoed a $ 740.5 billion defense policy bill.

However, on Thursday morning, Republicans in the House challenged the president and blocked a bill introduced by Democrats that would have sent checks of $ 2,000 to individuals as part of the coronavirus financial aid package.

Thursday’s trades also begin a period in US equities, known as Santa Claus’ rise, which has historically been good for stocks, producing an average gain of 1.3% over the period, according to research by Ryan Detrick of LPL Financial.

The market continues to be haunted by concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, despite the launch of vaccines. An increase in deaths and hospitalizations caused by COVID has dimmed, reaching what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called an “early but important” milestone for more than 1 million vaccinated people.

In fact, the new daily cases of Covid-19 in the U.S. increased to 227,522 on Wednesday, from 201,674 on Tuesday, according to data provided by the New York Times. The death toll rose to 3,411 from 3,239, to mark the second worst day since the start of the pandemic. Hospitalizations grew 1,702 to a record 119,463 on Wednesday, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

Meanwhile, UK and EU officials announced a Brexit trade deal on Thursday, after months of prolonged negotiations and years of uncertainty about how a post-Brexit relationship between the two sides could take shape. The agreement must now be ratified by the parliaments of the United Kingdom and Europe.

Investors say the deal will not be a significant catalyst for U.S. markets, but it does remove an obstacle for investors amid a plethora of virus and non-virus concerns.

Read: UK ETFs increase when Brexit deal closes

“Investors continue to seek confirmation that a US / COVID spending support agreement and a UK / EU trade agreement can be concluded by the end of the year,” wrote Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management in a survey on Thursday Note.

These political disputes take place as the UK announces stricter COVID blocking measures, with several regions set to enter tier 4 of tougher restrictions on Saturday, as the country struggles to limit a variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, that they say is more transmissible.

What actions are in focus?

Shares of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group
NANNY,
-14.80%
were in focus amid reports that Chinese regulators are conducting an anti-monopoly investigation on Thursday. The US listed shares fell nearly 13.7% in Thursday’s stock.

Actions of Cloudera Inc.
CLDR,
-0.27%
may be in focus after the company said on Wednesday that it bought back all the Intel Corp.’s INTC,
+ 0.53%
stake in the company for $ 314 million. Cloudera’s shares fell 0.8%, while Intel’s rose 0.2%.

Software provider actions SolarWinds Corp.
SWI,
-1.69%
said on Thursday that it released updates in response to the “SUPERNOVA” malware that was used to hack into US government computer systems. Its shares fell 2%.

How are other assets being traded?

• In Asian trade, Shanghai Composite SHCOMP,
  -0.57%
  closed 0.6% lower on Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK,
  + 0.54%
  index rose 0.5%, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng HSI Index,
  + 0.16%
  closed up 0.2%.

• In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Europe SXXP,
  + 0.12%
  was 0.2% higher, while the London FTSE 100 index, UKX,
  + 0.10%
  gained 0.1%.

• The yield of the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y,
  0.940%
  fell 1.7 basis points to around 0.94%. Yields and prices move in opposite directions.

• Oil futures were retreating, with the American benchmark CL.1,
  -0.33%
  were trading at 33 cents, or 0.7%, at $ 47.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with the contract threatening to halt weekly highs at seven.

• GC00 gold futures for February delivery,
  + 0.24%
  fell 0.2% to $ 1,875.30 / ounce.

• A US dollar meter, the ICE US Dollar Index DXY,
  -0.11%,
  fell 0.2% to 90,243.