Closing: U.S. stocks closed down on Thursday, the Dow fell 90 points

In the early morning of the 31st, Beijing time, US stocks closed down on Thursday, and the Dow fell 90 points. The number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States fell to the lowest level in 52 years last week, increasing the pressure on the Federal Reserve to accelerate monetary policy tightening. The market continues to assess the epidemic situation and the trend of US stocks at the end of the year. The surge in cases of new crown infections and severe weather have forced many US airlines to continue to cancel flights in large numbers.

The Dow fell 90.55 points, or 0.25%, to 36398.08 points; the Nasdaq fell 24.65 points, or 0.16%, to 15,741.56 points; the S&P 500 index fell 14.33 points, or 0.30%, to 4,778.73 points.

　　On Thursday morning, the Dow rose to a maximum of 36679.44 points, and the S&P 500 index climbed to 4,808.93 points, both hitting record intraday highs.

　　The number of cancellations of American Airlines' flights is still increasing due to the sharp increase in coronavirus cases and the severe shortage of manpower. On Thursday, another 1,170 flights were cancelled. The snowstorm in the forecast may further disrupt people's travel during the New Year holidays.

　　According to FlightAware data, as of 2:27 pm Eastern time on Thursday, JetBlue has cancelled 175 flights, accounting for 17% of its planned flights. Allegiant cancelled 93 flights, accounting for 18% of planned flights. United Airlines cancelled 197, accounting for 9% of the plan. Before noon, the number of cancelled flights that day had exceeded the number of 1084 that were cancelled throughout the day on Wednesday.

　　So far in December, the three major U.S. stock indexes have all recorded gains. The S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded gains for the second month in the past three months, while the Nasdaq is expected to rise for the third consecutive month.

　　Normally, the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the new year are the seasonally strong periods of the US stock market, which are called "Christmas market." Bank of America( 44.53 , -0.10 , -0.22% )

　　However, market participants warned not to over-interpret daily trends, as trading volumes tend to decrease during the holiday season, which may exaggerate price fluctuations.

　　Analysts said that rising U.S. Treasury yields may become a headwind for the U.S. stock market in 2022, especially in markets where high-growth stocks are concentrated. On Wednesday, the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond yield exceeded 1.5%.

　　Lawrence Gillum, fixed-income strategist at LPL Financial, said: “We expect U.S. Treasury yields to rise slightly in 2022. The basis for forecasting is the recent inflation expectations higher than historical trends and the improvement in U.S. economic growth after the impact of the new crown variant strain subsides. Expectations.” His forecast range for the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond yield at the end of 2022 is 1.75%-2.00%.

　　The market is still evaluating the potential impact of Omi Keron mutant strains. Some early research reports in South Africa and the United Kingdom pointed out that compared with other strains, people infected with Omi Keron mutant strains have milder symptoms and a lower risk of hospitalization. This eased some investors’ worries about travel disruptions and pushed the S&P 500 Index to a record high this week.

　　Medical research in South Africa shows that two doses of Johnson & Johnson( 172.31 , 0.76 , 0.44% )

　　Dr. Fauci, a top US infectious disease expert, said on Wednesday that all signs indicate that compared with the delta variant, the Ome Keron variant causes milder symptoms. Fauci also said: "We do not consider blocking the Omi Keron strain."

　　On Thursday’s economic data, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that approximately 198,000 people applied for unemployment benefits in the week before Christmas. In the worst labor shortage in decades, the number of applicants for unemployment benefits in the United States was close to 52 years. The lowest level. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time in the previous week was revised to 206,000.

　　Economists surveyed predict that the number of initial jobless claims after seasonal adjustments will reach 205,000.

　　The extremely low number of initial claims for unemployment benefits reflects the reluctance of companies to lay off employees when there is an extreme labor shortage. It is difficult for American companies to fill almost record vacancies, and once any employees are laid off, they may not be able to find replacements.

　　At the same time, a report from the Department of Labor showed that the number of continuous recipients of unemployment benefits in the United States fell by 140,000 last week to a total of 1.72 million. These continued unemployment benefits have now returned to their pre-crisis levels.

　　Although the Omi Keron mutant strain is harming the US economy, the new strain is unlikely to spawn a new wave of large-scale layoffs. On the contrary, it may temporarily prevent some people from looking for work, thereby exacerbating labor market shortages.

　　Institutional analysis said that the initial unemployment benefit data fell sharply, making it difficult for Fed Chairman Powell to find an excuse to postpone the tightening of monetary policy.

Focus stocks

　　As technical defects may increase the risk of accidents, Tesla( 1070.34 , -15.85 , -1.46% )

　　Tesla responded to the "surging premiums" saying: The average increase was about 10%, and high-performance models did not exceed 20%. In response to recent reports that Tesla owners have experienced a surge in insurance premiums, Tesla responded that according to the latest statistics on December 30, the increase in Tesla vehicle insurance premiums is about 10% on average in the country, which is relatively high. The premium for the performance version of the model is within 20% of the national average. For the specific amount, please refer to the local insurance company's quotation.

　　Samsung Bio, a subsidiary of Samsung Group, denied that it was negotiating to acquire Bojian at a premium. Prior to this, the "Korea Economic Daily" reported that Samsung Group is negotiating to purchase Bojian, and the transaction may value Bojian at approximately US$42 billion. Driven by the report, the Alzheimer's disease drug developer's stock rose more than 9% on Wednesday.

　　A study by the South African Medical Research Council showed that within weeks and months after the booster shots were given to people who had previously been vaccinated by Johnson & Johnson, the level of protection of the vaccine against the Omi Keron mutant strain was improved. Among them, one to two months after the second vaccination, the hospitalization rate can be reduced by 85%; while the hospitalization rate of patients receiving the booster vaccination in the past two weeks has been reduced by 63%.

　　JetBlue said on Thursday that it will cancel approximately 1,280 flights by January 13 due to a surge in crews infected with Omi Keron.

　　Since Christmas Eve, American Airlines has cancelled hundreds of flights every day in response to the shortage of employees due to the new crown infection and severe weather in some areas.

　　TouchPal( 0.7 , 0.17 , 32.08% ) share price rose sharply. The company said that the ultra-casual game "Hotties Up" of the game studio Smillage it invested in has made it into the top three of the iOS game rankings in the United States.

　　The board of directors of JD.com( 70.4 , 4.77 , 7.27% ) has approved the revision of the existing share repurchase plan adopted in March 2020. Accordingly, the repurchase authorization has been increased from US$2 billion to US$3 billion and extended to 20243 On the 17th.

　　Vector Tobacco Group's stock price fell. The group completed the split of Douglas Elliman, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange today.

　　IQIYI( 4.7 , 0.67 , 16.63% )( 32.42 , 4.17 , 14.76% )( 59.45 , 5.44 , 10.07% )( 150.61 , 14.31 , 10.50% )

　　In other markets, the price of gold futures for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 8.30 US dollars, or 0.5%, to close at 1814.10 US dollars per ounce. Silver futures for March delivery rose 20.2 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $23.06 per ounce. The futures closed down 1.1% on Wednesday.

　　The price of West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil (WTI) for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 43 cents, or 0.6%, to close at $76.99 per barrel. The futures closed 0.8% higher on Wednesday.

　　London Intercontinental Exchange(136.78, -0.46, -0.34%)