U.S. stocks close up as Omicron fears fall; 'Santa Claus rally' may be muted

U.S. stocks close up as Omicron fears fall; 'Santa Claus rally' may be muted By Jessica DiNapoli NEW YORK -U.S. stock indexes closed broadly higher on Wednesday after investors cheered positive economic data and the White House said it was resuming talks on a massive social spending and climate change bill with a holdout senator. "With COVID fears, there’s not as much worry as before," said Anu Gaggar, global investment strategist for Commonwealth Financial Network. Gaggar added that volatility in December has been much higher than usually seen, and that her conviction is that the "Santa Claus rally is slightly lower this year.” Riskier currencies such as the Australian dollar and the euro recovered against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, while U.S. Treasury traders discounted the threat of long-term inflation as the yield curve flattened. Little is known about the severity or transmissibility of the Omicron variant, but top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday that holiday gatherings of over 40 people are not safe even for people who are vaccinated and got a booster dose.