The fourth consecutive day of the Omicron rally and today it was huge, but not just because of Omicron which the market has pretty much already decided is not going to be such a big deal after all, but because the retail sales data today revealed that not only is Omicron not hurting the holiday revenue but that this Christmas season has seen a whopping 8.5% increase in sales, considerably higher than expected.  The main worry today was the travel sector with all the cancelled flights this weekend but that was overwhelmed by the other very positive data.  With personal consumption making up 70% of GDP, the economy remains flush.  All the indexes are on track for a third consecutive year of gains.  The S&P has hit a new record for annual gains at 26% but the Dow and Nasdaq are not far behind at a rise of 18 and 23 percent respectively.  As can be expected at year’s end, volume remains on the light side at 7.7 billion. 

Mon  December 27, 2021  4:30 PM

S&P 500 scores record high on retail sales cheer

By Echo Wang

DJ: 35,950.56  +196.67       NAS: 15,653.37  +131.48       S&P: 4,725.79  +29.23     12/23

DJ: 36,302.38  +351.82       NAS: 15,871.26  +217.89       S&P: 4,791.19  +65.40     12/27

Dec 27 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 index (.SPX) hit a record high on Monday, as strong U.S. retail sales underscored economic strength and eased worries from Omicron-driven flight cancellations that hit travel stocks.  U.S. holiday season retail sales rose 8.5% from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, powered by an ecommerce boom, according to a Mastercard Inc report. read more  The S&P 500 retailing index  (.SPXRT) gained 0.18%.  Travel-related stocks, typically sensitive to coronavirus news, declined as U.S. airlines canceled about 800 more flights on Monday after nixing thousands during the Christmas weekend, as Omicron cases soared. read more  The S&P 1500 airlines index (.SPCOMAIR) shed 0.81%. Cruise operators Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH.N), Royal Caribbean (RCL.N) and Carnival Corp (CCL.N) fell 1.5%-3.1%, leading declines on the benchmark S&P 500.

"The market is in this interesting place where we have a strong consumer, with spending up 8% year over year. Personal consumption makes up 70% of our GDP, and that remains flush," said Sylvia Jablonski Kampaktsis, chief investment officer and co-founder at Defiance ETFs in New York.  "Omicron reminds us that we still exist in this corona ecosystem. And it'll probably be one of many things that we will continue talking about with this virus but the doomsday COVID scenario of 2020 feels like it's far behind us."

Monday's climb marks a fourth straight session of gains for Wall Street's main stock indexes after encouraging news last week related to the Omicron variant eased worries about the strain's economic impact. read more  All 11 main S&P 500 sector indexes advanced, with tech (.SPLRCT) and energy (.SPNY) leading percentage gains. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 351.82 points, or 0.98%, to 36,302.38, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 65.4 points, or 1.38%, to 4,791.19 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 217.89 points, or 1.39%, to 15,871.26.  The S&P 500 has climbed 4.9% during its recent run of gains, its biggest percentage gain over a four-day period since early November 2020.  The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC)got a boost from megacap companies, including Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O), and Meta Platform (FB.O), which rose between 0.9% and 3.3%.  Main U.S. stock indexes are on track for a third straight yearly gain, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) set for its best three-year performance since 1999. The Dow is eyeing a 18.37% annual jump, while the Nasdaq is looking at a 23% climb. 

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.76 billion shares, compared with the 11.74 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.29-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.09-to-1 ratio favored advancers.  The S&P 500 posted 58 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 101 new highs and 145 new lows.