Gold prices hold sharp gains as soft US jobs data fuels Fed rate cut bets
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By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 closed lower on
Monday, having clawed its way back from steep losses early in
the session as investors juggled the outbreak of an ominous new
strain of COVID-19 with the passage of a long-anticipated
stimulus package.
The Nasdaq joined the S&P 500 in the red, but financials
helped the blue-chip Dow reverse course for a modest gain.
"The 'Santa rally' will have to wait," said David Carter,
chief investment officer at Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York.
"Troubling news about COVID in the UK has reminded markets that
COVID isn't solved yet; the road ahead may be bumpy and
uncertain."
Congress hammered out a pandemic relief agreement on Sunday
after months of partisan wrangling. The $900 billion package,
expected to pass on Monday, includes unemployment aid, small
business relief, and vaccine distribution, but the dollar amount
fell short of what many had hoped for. "Fiscal stimulus plan appears big enough to hold off a
recession, but not for long," Carter added. "But while it's not
as large as many market participants hoped, it does include many
meaningful actions that can support markets."
But the emergence of new, highly infectious strain of
COVID-19 in Britain has raised fears of additional shutdowns,
and prompted countries around the world to shut their doors to
travelers from the United Kingdom. The news sent airline stocks sliding, even with the prospect
of $15 billion in payroll assistance for commercial carriers
included in the stimulus deal. Tesla Inc TSLA.O became the most valuable company ever
added to the S&P 500 and will account for about 1.69% of the
index. The electric car maker's stock ended the session lower.
Banks bucked the trend. The U.S. Federal Reserve released
the results of its semiannual stress test late Friday and
announced relaxed restrictions on buybacks and dividends.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
36.94 points, or 0.12%, to 30,215.99, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
14.47 points, or 0.39%, to 3,694.94 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 13.12 points, or 0.1%, to 12,742.52.
Nike Inc NKE.N rose after the athletic apparel maker
boosted its full-year revenue forecast, prompting multiple
brokers to raise their price targets. Shares of Lockheed Martin Corp LMT.N slid after announcing
it would buy U.S. rocket engine maker Aerojet Rocketdyne
Holdings Inc AJRD.N for $4.4 billion. International Business Machines Corp IBM.N lost ground
after saying it would acquire Finland-based startup Nordcloud,
in its latest effort to bolster its cloud-computing business.