Dow jumped 324 (nearing 37K). advancers over decliners 4-3 & NAZ slid back 193. The MLP index added 3+ to the 186s & the REIT index rose 2+ to 510. Junk bond funds were mixed & Treasuries had more selling which raised their yields. Oil went up 1+ to the 77s when OPEC+ did not raise their production quota for Feb (more below) & gold rose 14 to 1815.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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The US has reported a record single-day number of daily Covid cases, with more than 1M new infections. A total of 1,082,549 new cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, as the highly infectious omicron variant continues to spread throughout the country. The new daily tally brings the total number of cases confirmed in the US since the start of the pandemic to 56M. In total, the virus has caused at least 828K deaths across the country. The record single-day total may be due in part to delayed reporting from over the holiday weekend. A number of states did not report data on Dec 31, New Year's Eve, & many do not report data on weekends, meaning that some of these cases could be from positive tests taken on prior days. Nonetheless, as of yesterday, the 7-day average of daily new US cases is 480K, the highest such metric of new cases in any country tracked by Johns Hopkins. About 98K Americans are hospitalized with Covid-19, according to a 7-day average of data from the Dept of Health & Human Services, up 32% from a week ago. That figure is approaching peak delta wave levels when about 103K people were in hospital beds with Covid across the country in early Sep, but remains lower than last winter's high mark of roughly 137K US hospitalizations. The US is reporting an average of about 1200 daily Covid deaths for the week ended yesterday, well below the record numbers seen following last year's holiday season when the daily average held above 3K for about a month starting in last Jan. The death toll tends to lag rises in case counts & hospitalizations, however.
U.S. reports over 1 million new daily Covid cases as omicron surges
An influential group of some of the world's largest oil producers agreed today to stick to its planned increase in oil production from Feb as energy investors weigh the potential impact of soaring omicron Covid cases. OPEC+ decided to raise its output target by 400K barrels per day from next month. The move had been broadly expected given US pressure to boost supply & no major new Covid restrictions. Led by OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia & non-OPEC leader Russia, the energy alliance is in the process of unwinding record supply cuts of roughly 10M barrels per day. The historic production cut was put in place in Apr 2020 to help the energy market after the coronavirus pandemic cratered demand for crude. Oil prices climbed more than 50% last year, with energy investors optimistic that the highly infectious omicron variant may be less severe than feared. That's despite Covid infections reaching new record highs, with the US reporting a global daily record of over 1M infections in just 24 hours. World oil markets are widely expected to remain prone to geopolitics in 2022, with “saber-rattling” over the persistent Russia-Ukraine standoff & ongoing Iranian nuclear negotiations likely to be closely monitored by OPEC+.
OPEC+ agrees oil output hike from February as omicron Covid cases soar
Treasury yields climbed, ahead of the release of Nov's job openings report. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose by 2.9 basis points to 1.659% & the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond added 2.4 basis point, advancing to 2.041%. Yields move inversely to prices & 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%. The central bank will also be monitoring ADP's Dec employment change report, due to be out tomorrow, followed by the release of weekly jobless claims data on Thurs. The highly anticipated Dec nonfarm payrolls report is then expected to be out on Fri.
Treasury yields edge up ahead of job openings data
Dow Jones Industrials
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