The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed the record on Thursday, the last trading day of 2020, as it closed a volatile year, brutally disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Dow rose 196 points, 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 at 12,888.28.
Both the Dow and the S&P also reached intraday highs.
During the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 7.2%. It finished in 2019 at 28,538.44.
The S&P 500 rose 16.3% in 2020, after finishing in 2019 at 3,230.78.
And the Nasdaq Composite advanced 43.6% this year. It closed 2019 at 8,972.60.
On Wednesday the shares had finished a little higher and the Dow closed at a record high.
Initial unemployment claims fell 19,000 to 787,000 in the week ending Dec. 26, according to the Department of Labor, the second straight decline.
Wall Street expected initial unemployment claims to rise to 828,000. The previous week’s total was revised upwards between 3,000 and 806,000.
“Initial unemployment claims fell a bit, but at such high levels and with such large margins of error, they are basically trapped in an inflationary and painful level due to the rising coronavirus,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist of the Navy Federal Credit Union.
As this rise continues, Frick said, “Even with incentives, we can expect more than a million Americans to lose their jobs weekly, depending on state and federal measures.”
On the political front, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said Democrats would allow votes that would limit a shield of responsibility for tech companies and set up a commission to look into elections. of 2020 if the Republican Party agreed to hold an additional separation or -Negative vote on sending $ 2,000 checks to most Americans, CNBC reported.
President Donald Trump had demanded that Congress move to all three issues when he agreed to sign a $ 900 billion Covid-19 relief package, but the majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), has turned down payments $ 2,000 direct as “socialism for the rich”.
The number of confirmed global deaths from covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, rose to nearly 1.81 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. Virus cases worldwide have risen to 83.1 million.
The death toll in the United States is 343,030, most of the world. The number of confirmed infected people in the US was 19.8 million.
201,555 new coronavirus cases were reported in the U.S. on Wednesday and 3,725 deaths were reported, according to university data.
A highly contagious variant of the coronavirus that has spread across the UK was discovered in California, a day after Colorado authorities confirmed 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 have said existing vaccines should be effective against the new strain.
Exxon Mobil (XOM) – Get the report indicated in a regulatory filing that it would likely record a fourth consecutive quarterly loss after making a reduction in value of up to $ 20 billion in its rising assets. Shares of the largest energy closed nearly 1%, at $ 41.01.
JC Penney CEO Jill Soltau leaves the retail business. The new owners of the chain, which emerged from bankruptcy proceedings earlier this month, have begun the search for a new leader.
Simon Property Group (SPG) – Get the report and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) – Get the report, the two American mall owners who bought Penney in the fall, said they were looking for a leader “focused on modern retail, the consumer experience and the goal of creating a sustainable and long-lasting JC Penney.” .
Stock exchanges will close on January 1st. US bond markets closed at 2pm on Thursday and no trading will take place on New Year’s Day.