US stocks meander through the last hour of trading on Christmas Eve

• Russell 2000 RUT Index,
  -0.35%
  closed 17.22 points, or 0.9%, reaching a record 2,007.10.

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

• The S&P 500 ended 2.75 points, or 0.1%, higher to close at 3,690.01, making a 3-session slide.

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

What drives the market?

Markets remain fixed on the completion of the coronavirus aid package and government funding legislation passed by Congress on Monday after President Donald Trump expressed dissatisfaction with it.

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

However, on Thursday morning, Republicans in the House defied the president and blocked a bill tabled by Democrats that allegedly sent $ 2,000 checks to people as part of the coronavirus package.

Thursday’s trade also begins a period in US stocks, known as the Santa Rally, which has been historically good for stocks, producing an average gain of 1.3% along the way, according to Ryan Detrick’s research. the LPL Financial.

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

Indeed, new U.S. daily cases of Covid-19 rose Wednesday to 227,522 from 201,674 on Tuesday, according to data provided by the New York Times. The death toll rose from 3,239 to 3,411, marking the second worst day since the pandemic began. Hospitalizations rose 1,702 to a record 119,463 on Wednesday, according to the COVID follow-up project.

Meanwhile, UK and EU officials on Thursday announced a Brexit trade deal after months of protracted negotiations and the end of years of uncertainty over how a post-Brexit relationship could take shape between the two sides. The agreement must now be ratified by the British and European parliaments.

Investors say the transaction will not be a significant catalyst for US markets, but it eliminates a headwind for investors amid numerous virus and non-virus concerns.

Read: UK ETFs jump as Brexit agreement is finalized

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

Those political battles come as Britain announces stricter measures to block COVID, with a number of regions set to enter the toughest level of restrictions on Saturday 4, as the country struggles to limit a variant of COVID. the virus that causes Covid-19 which is said to be more transmissible.

What stocks are concentrated?

Shares of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group
BABA,
-15.43%
were the focus of reports that Chinese regulators began an antitrust investigation on Thursday. Shares listed in the US fell 14.5% in the stock since early Thursday.

Actions of Cloudera Inc.
CLDR,
-0.13%
could be the focus of attention after the company said late Wednesday that it had redeemed all of them Intel Corp.is INTC,
+ 0.74%
participation in the company for $ 314 million. Shares of Cloudera fell 0.3%, while Intel rose 0.5%.

Actions of the software provider SolarWinds Corp.
SWI,
-1.56%
said on Thursday that it had released updates in response to the “SUPERNOVA” malware that was used to hack US government computer systems. Its shares fell 1.8%.

How are other assets traded?

• In Asian trade, Shanghai Composite SHCOMP,
  -0.57%
  closed 0.6% lower on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 NIK,
  + 0.54%
  Hong Kong HSI Hang Seng Index,
  + 0.16%
  closed by 0.2%.

• In Europe, Stoxx 600 Europe SXXP,
  + 0.12%
  and the London UKX FTSE 100 index,
  + 0.10%
  both increased by 0.1%.

• The 10-year treasury bill produces TMUBMUSD10Y,
  0.942%
  decreased 2 basis points to about 0.94%. Yields and prices are moving in opposite directions.

• Oil futures contracts were withdrawn with US reference CL.1,
  -0.17%
  they traded 12 cents, or 0.3%, at $ 48.00 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with the contract threatening to stop seven consecutive weekly hikes.

• Gold futures for delivery in February GC00,
  + 0.24%
  increased 0.2% to $ 1,882.60 / oz.

• An indicator of the US dollar, the ICE US Dollar DXY index,
  -0.08%,
  decreased by 0.1%.