S&P 500 closes at record high on retail sales cheer
Dec 27 - The S&P 500 indexended at a record high on Monday, its fourth straight session of gains, as strong U.S. retail sales underscored economic strength and eased worries from Omicron-driven flight cancellations that hit travel stocks.U.S. retail sales increased 8.5% year-over-year this holiday season, powered by an ecommerce boom, according to a Mastercard Inc report, giving the S&P 500 retailing indexa boost.Travel-related stocks, typically sensitive to coronavirus news, declined after U.S
- Wall Street finished lower on Friday, weighed down by Big Tech as investors worried about the Omicron coronavirus variant and digested the Federal Reserve's decision to end its pandemic-era stimulus faster.All three main U.S. stock indexes ended with a decline for the week after the Fed on Wednesday signaled three quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes by the end of 2022 to combat surging inflation.Nvidia dropped 2.1% and Alphabet lost 1.9%, both weighing on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.The S