S&P 500 closes lower after four-day rally to record high

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  • U.S. CDC shortens recommended isolation for asymptomatic cases
Dec 28 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab closed slightly lower after hitting a record intraday high on Tuesday, as a four-day rally lost steam in thin trading and investors weighed Omicron-driven travel disruptions and store closures.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday shortened the recommended isolation time for Americans with asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 to five days from the previous guidance of 10 days. read more
The update follows approvals for new pills and more vaccines to fight COVID-19. It helped investors shrug off concerns over thousands of flight cancellations and Apple Inc (AAPL.O), opens new tab shutting its New York stores due to surging cases, and put U.S. stocks on pace for monthly gains. read more
"This is a holiday-shortened week. So daily movements will likely be exaggerated because of a low relative volume," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.
Eightof the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes rose on Tuesday. Technology (.SPLRCT), opens new tab and healthcare (.SPXHC), opens new tab led declines.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab lost 4.53 points, or 0.08%, to end at 4,787.14 points, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab lost 86.27 points, or 0.54%, at 15,784.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 101.66 points, or 0.26%, to 36,404.04.
In company news, Boeing Co (BA.N), opens new tabrose as Indonesia lifted a ban on its 737 MAX, three years after the crash of one of the aircraft and loss of all 189 people on board. read more
Markets are in the seasonal Santa Claus rally, with CFRA Research data showing the S&P 500 has on average risen 1.3% in the last five trading days of the year, and first two days of the new year since 1969.
"Investors are digesting the gains from the last three days, ... but there are concerns such as how will the Omicron variant affect the market? Would that end up undoing the Santa Claus rally? What about the Fed raising interest rates, could that cause challenges for the year ahead?" Stovall said.
The Federal Reserve signaled earlier this month three quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes by the end of 2022 as the economy nears full employment and the U.S. central bank copes with an inflation surge. L1N2SZ1G5

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Reporting by Echo Wang in Taos, New Mexico; Additional reporting by Medha Singh and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V, Maju Samuel and Richard Chang

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Echo Wang is a correspondent at Reuters covering U.S. equity capital markets, and the intersection of Chinese business in the U.S, breaking news from U.S. crackdown on TikTok and Grindr, to restrictions Chinese companies face in listing in New York. She was the Reuters' Reporter of the Year in 2020.

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