NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The US stock markets started slightly in positive territory on the penultimate trading day of an extremely successful stock market year. Investors are counting on the fact that, despite the increasing number of infections, the Omikron variant of the coronavirus will not have a lasting impact on the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial rose to another record high of 36,679 points in the first few minutes of trading on Thursday, after having already reached a high in the closing trade the previous day.
On Thursday, the US benchmark index was last 0.19 percent higher at 36 556.93 points. The S&P 500 
gained 0.25 percent on 4805.06 points. Before that, it had also reached a record high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.38 percent to 16,554.19 points.
Even before the start of trading, the numbers for the weekly initial claims for US unemployment benefits were published, which were better than forecast. According to the analyst Jeffrey Halley from the dealer Oanda, they should ensure good mood in the market. In addition, the business climate in the Chicago region – as measured by the local purchasing managers’ index – brightened more strongly than expected in December.
Market participants will also pay attention to the phone call between US President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin on the subject of Ukraine, which is scheduled for late Thursday evening. In the event of further military intervention in Ukraine, Biden threatens the Russian head of state with severe sanctions.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is also seen as a key geopolitical risk in the first few weeks of 2022. It should soon become clear whether the conflict can be settled at the green table or whether there is a threat of further escalation, wrote capital market strategist Jürgen Molnar from trading house Robomarkets. The latter is also likely to cause severe turbulence on the stock markets, the expert believes.
Among the individual stocks, the shares of Micron Technology were under selling pressure with a minus of 1.9 percent. The semiconductor company had warned that the ongoing lockdown in the Chinese metropolis Xi ?? an could affect its semiconductor production. A trader said the region accounts for around ten percent of the world’s production capacity for so-called Nand chips. The Micron titles had jumped significantly a few days before Christmas because the company had given an optimistic outlook due to high demand for chips.
Biogen fell 7.4 percent after electronics company Samsung denied a report in the Korea Economic Daily on talks about a takeover of the US biotech company. The day before, after speculation about the takeover, Biogen had jumped 9.5 percent.
The shares of the transport service providers Uber and Lyft rose 1.3 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, according to the latest quarterly figures of the Chinese counterparty Didi.
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