Stocks are off to a solid start on Wall Street Tuesday as investors continue to wager that the new variant of the covid-19 virus won't pose a big threat to the economy.
The S&P 500 rose 2.1% by 10:25 a.m., adding to its gains from a day earlier. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 2.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.5%. On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 1.2% while the Dow added 1.9%. The Nasdaq composite gained less than 0.1%.
Wall Street futures were higher after the chief White House medical adviser said Monday the omicron variant might be less dangerous. That might allow travel and business restrictions to ease.
Safe-play sectors like utilities lagged the rest of the market. Treasury yields rose and crude oil prices climbed about 3%. European markets were also solidly higher, and Asian markets closed higher overnight.
Airlines, cruise lines and other travel companies that stand to gain from avoiding more anti-coronavirus controls advanced.
It will still take a few weeks to learn whether omicron is more contagious, causes more severe illness or evades immunity.
People wearing face masks walk past a bank's electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. Asia stock markets followed Wall Street higher Tuesday as anxiety about the coronavirus's latest variant eased. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
A man wearing a face mask walks past a bank's electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. Asia stock markets followed Wall Street higher Tuesday as anxiety about the coronavirus's latest variant eased. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
A cement truck moves past a new Evergrande housing development in Beijing on Sept. 22, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Monday after troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande warned late Friday it may run out of money. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Specialist James Denaro works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Dec. 1, 2021. Stocks are opening mostly higher on Wall Street, led by gains in airlines and other travel-related companies that would benefit from more reopening of the economy. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% in the early going Monday, Dec. 6, 2021 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)