U.S. Stocks Pull Back Off Best Levels But Close Modestly Higher
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After an early move to the upside, stocks gave back some ground over the course of the trading session on Wednesday but managed to end the day modestly higher. With the uptick on the day, the Dow reached a new record closing high.
The Dow rose by nearly 190 points in morning trading but ended the session up just 73.89 points or 0.2 percent at 30,409.56. The Nasdaq edged up 19.78 points or 0.2 percent to 12,870.00 and the S&P 500 inched up 5.00 points or 0.1 percent to 3,732.04.
The early strength on Wall Street came as traders made another attempt at window dressing going into the end of the year after profit taking set in following an early advance on Tuesday.
Sen. Hawley will object to Electoral College results, ensuring a doomed fight to overturn Biden s win
The Missouri Republican is the first senator to say he will join House Republicans in objecting to certify Joe Biden s win.
USA TODAY
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, says he will object to the Electoral College results next week when Congress meets to officially certify President-elect Joe Biden s win over President Donald Trump, ensuring a doomed but dramatic congressional fight to overturn Biden s win.
Hawley, a close ally of the president, is the first senator to announce he would back the effort on Jan. 6, ensuring both chambers will debate and be forced to vote on whether to overturn Biden s election win. A faction of conservative House Republicans, led by Mo. Brooks, R-Ala., have already said they will object to electoral votes from some battleground states that Biden won, such as Pennsylvania and Georgia.
The first known U.S. case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant was detected in Colorado on Tuesday, and President-elect Joe Biden said that it could take years for most Americans to be vaccinated for the virus at current distribution rates.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a vote Tuesday on House-approved legislation that would raise the payments to most Americans from $600 to $2,000.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares jump to record high as investors bet on healthier 2021 Reuters 12/30/2020
Popular Searches Dollar weakens, euro hits high since April 2018 European shares seen down slightly
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Asian shares hit a record high on Wednesday with investors betting on a strong economic recovery next year, as there is little sign policymakers wind back massive stimulus efforts aimed at staving off coronavirus-fuelled downturns.
MSCI s gauge of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan rose 1.2% to hit a record high, led by gains in Chinese shares and bringing its gains so far this year to 18.9%.
Japan s Nikkei share average lost 0.45% on its last trading day of 2020 after jumping to a 30-year high on Tuesday. For the year, it was up 16.0%.