By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The S&P 500 edged higher Wednesday, to remain on course for a closing record after big tech cut intraday losses and a Biogen-fueled rally in healthcare bolstered stocks.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%, or 160 points, the Nasdaq slipped 0.1%.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) cut intraday losses, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) were well off their session lows.
In Chinese tech, however, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) fell more than 2% following a Bloomberg report that the e-commerce giant was in early talks to sell part or all of its stake in social media platform company Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) to Shanghai Media Group.
In health care, Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) jumped nearly 10% intraday after the Korea Economic Daily reported that the company was in talks about a possible to sale to electronics giants Samsung.
Energy was a drag on the broader market even as oil prices rebounded from session lows after weekly U.S. petroleum data showed a larger than expected fall in crude stockpiles and ramp-up in production.
Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), ONEOK (NYSE:OKE), Baker Hughes (NYSE:BKR) were among the biggest decliners.
Airline stocks continued to trade to the tune of Omicron-led data as Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK) cancelled hundreds of flights amid rising cases of Omicron variant and weather conditions.
The U.S. hit a record seven-day case average of 262,034 cases on Tuesday, surpassing the prior record of 251,232 cases seen in January this year.
As the broader market remains within touching distance of its notching its 70th record high, some on Wall Street continue to expect more of the same in the new year.
“If the S&P 500 ends near current levels, next year we could see a total return (index appreciation plus dividends) in the 10% to 12% range based on our current work,” Wells Fargo said.
“So even after a nice run higher this year, we see more upside through year-end 2022,” it added.