NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th January, 2022) US stocks were broadly higher on Monday in their debut for 2022 as investors bet that the economy will continue to triumph over the effects of the COVID-19 measures two years into the pandemic.
Wall Street's three major equity indexes - the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite - all rose more than half a percent each in the first trading session of the New Year, after finishing 2021 up about 20% or more.
The economy shrank by 3.5% for all of 2020 due to shutdowns and other disruptions caused by the COVID-19 measures. The Federal Reserve has projected a 5.5% growth for 2021 and 4% for 2022.
In Monday's session, Wall Street's Big Tech indicator Nasdaq led the action in stocks, rising 1.2% to settle at 15,833.
Iphone maker Apple was the star of the day, crossing $3 trillion in market capitalization as the world's most valuable company. Nasdaq also benefited from all-round gains in stocks such as Facebook, Netflix and Google, after a 21% rally last year.
The S&P 500, which lists the top 500 US stocks, rose 0.6% to finish at 4,795. Last year, the index rose 27%.
The blue-chip Dow, which lists a wide variety of stocks from leisure to banking and agriculture, gained 0.7% to close at 36,585. In 2021, the Dow finished up 19%.
