US stocks pause near records to open 2021

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks were opened essentially flat but near records early Monday in the first session of 2021 after a volatile but ultimately bullish 2020 for US equities.

After tumbling early in the year due to Covid-19 lockdowns, US stock indices won solid gains for the year in a rally fed by accommodative Federal Reserve policies and expectations for an economic recovery in 2021 with widespread use of coronavirus vaccines.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 30,545.23, down 0.2 percent, while the broad-based S&P 500 was unchanged at 3,756.36, after both finished 2020 at all-time highs.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent to 12,906.78.

The economic calendar was light Monday, but the week ahead includes data on the manufacturing and services sector, as well as the all-important official jobs report for December.

Among individual names, Tesla surged five percent after reporting over the weekend it delivered a record number of cars in 2020, just narrowly missing its half a million target for the year.

MGM Resorts dropped 1.4 percent after British gaming company Entain turned down an £8.0 billion ($10.9 billion, 8.9 billion euros) takeover offer, saying MGM undervalued the business.