Thursday’s early trade: Wall Street set to end pandemic year on strong note

NEW YORK: US stocks were flat in thin trading on Thursday, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set to end 2020 with solid gains on hopes of more stimulus and coronavirus vaccines to support the domestic economy.

The three main indexes surged to record highs this week in a stunning recovery since March when the Covid-19 pandemic triggered the steepest global recession in generations and left millions of Americans unemployed.

While the virus continues to take its toll on the economy, unprecedented stimulus from the central bank and the government have helped the benchmark S&P 500 index climb almost 70% from its March low, putting it on course for a more than 15% gain this year.

The Nasdaq was set to record a 43% jump in what could be its best yearly performance since 2009, benefiting from a surge in tech mega-caps such as Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, Facebook Inc and Netflix Inc.

At 10:04 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 8.54 points, or 0.03%, at 30,418.10, the S&P 500 was up 3.61 points, or 0.10%, at 3,735.65, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 5.69 points, or 0.04%, at 12,864.31.

Trading volumes are likely to remain light on New Year’s Eve and the markets are closed on Friday.

Shares of Tribune Publishing Co rose 9.4% after its largest shareholder, Alden Global Capital, offered to take full control of the owner of the Chicago Tribune in a deal that values the newspaper chain at $520.6 million.—Reuters