Benchmarks reversed past three sessions’ selloff and closed in the green after the Biden administration assured to avoid last year type lockdowns and laid out plans to fight the omicron variant led the rise in COVID-19 cases. On the political front, investors also cheered news that the Senate will on President Biden’s Build Back Better plan in January, despite Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition, hinting further negotiations with the lawmaker.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 560.54 points, or 1.6%, to close at 35,492.70, its best one-day percentage gain since Dec 6. The Boeing Company
BA
that carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), was among the highest gainers, closing the session 5.9% higher. You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The S&P 500 jumped 81.20 points, or 1.8%, to close at 4,649.23 on Tuesday, its largest one-day point and percentage gain since Dec 7. Nine of the 11 major sectors of the broader index closed in the green with the energy sector leading the rally adding 2.9%, closely followed by at least 2.5% gain in technology and consumer discretionary sectors.
The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 15,341.09, after adding 360.14 points, or 2.4%, with 10.9% gain in shares of Atlassian Corporation Plc
TEAM
. Significant gain in shares of tech bigwigs also supported the Nasdaq. Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc.
FB
, Microsoft Corporation
MSFT
and Amazon.com, Inc.
AMZN
closed 2.7%, 2.3% and 2% higher, respectively, while Apple Inc.
AAPL
and Netflix, Inc.
NFLX
added 1.9% on Tuesday. Electric car maker Tesla, Inc.’s
TSLA
shares surged 4.3%.
On Tuesday, the fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 8.1%, to close at 21.01. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 4.08-to-1 ratio, while a 2.95-to-1 ratio favored advancers on Nasdaq. The S&P 500 recorded 11 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite posted 27 new highs and 99 new lows. A total of 10.1 billion shares were traded yesterday, lower than the last 20-session average of roughly 12 billion.
Markets Rebound as Biden Lays Out to Fight Omicron
In order to fight the fast-spreading omicron variant of COVID-19, the Biden administration on Tuesday outlined a plan to protect Americans and help communities and hospitals. President Joe Biden also remarked that there will be “absolutely no” March 2020-style lockdowns in the fight plan, rather get he plans to deploy more booster shots in arms. The plan also includes the distribution of 500 million at-home COVID-19 testing kits to citizens for free, along with immediate deployment of 1000 military doctors, nurses and other medical professionals in January and February, especially to the six states that have been hard-hit with omicron.
Stocks benefiting from reopening made a comeback on the news and airlines, cruise lines and entertainment stocks that gained during the holiday season saw some relief on Tuesday. On the political side, after Senator Joe Manchin’s disapproval in supporting Biden’s Build Back Better plan rattled investors on Monday, a Bloomberg report lightened investors mood on Tuesday, stating that Manchin and Biden spoke again and the chat likely left the door open to further negotiations, leaving “room for a revised bill”. Hence, the Senate will vote on the negotiated bill in January and investors rejoiced that the social-spending bill is “not dead yet.”
Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential
The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $2.4 trillion by 2028 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.
Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Recommendations from previous editions of this report have produced gains of +205%, +258% and +477%. The stocks in this report could perform even better.
See these 7 breakthrough stocks now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.
Click to get this free report
