Stocks notch 3rd day of gains, Apple hits record

Job openings in the U.S. remain at record levels

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U.S. stocks notched the third day of gains as investors continue to monitor the COVID-19 variant and its potential impact on the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 34 points or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were higher by 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively. This after the S&P 500 posted its best day since March on Tuesday. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 43745.12 +336.65 +0.78%
SP500 S&P 500 5927.76 +10.65 +0.18%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 18876.006933 -90.14 -0.48%

The latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey or JOLTS showed 11.03 million job openings in October, the highest number of openings since July, when businesses were looking to fill 11.1 million positions. It marked an increase from September when there were an upwardly revised 10.6 million open jobs. 

Dow members Goldman Sachs and Salesforce led the decline among the 30 stocks, while Apple notched a fresh record. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
WMT WALMART INC. 88.18 +0.99 +1.14%
INTC INTEL CORP. 24.34 +0.33 +1.38%
AAPL APPLE INC. 228.31 -0.69 -0.30%

In corporate news, shares of Pfizer rose after the company, along with its partner BioNTech said a third dose of their vaccine can ward against the variant. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
PFE PFIZER INC. 24.89 -0.06 -0.22%
BNTX BIONTECH SE 103.62 +1.48 +1.45%

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Comments Monday from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, said early indications suggest the omicron variant may be less dangerous than the delta variant, which has encouraged investors.

Oil also ticked higher to the $72 per barrel level. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
USO UNITED STATES OIL FUND - USD ACC 72.99 +0.96 +1.34%

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Campbell Soup shares were in focus after reiterating full-year profit and sales goals while also warning that higher costs may hit margins as inflation rises. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
CPB CAMPBELL SOUP CO. 44.12 +0.31 +0.71%

In deal news, Stanley Black and Decker is selling most of its Security assets to Securitas for $3.2 billion. The stock is having the best day since June of 2020.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
SWK STANLEY BLACK & DECKER INC. 87.14 +1.76 +2.06%

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 1.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.1% and China's Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.2%.

US TRADE DEFICIT SHRINKS IN OCTOBER AS EXPORTS REBOUND

Japan downgraded its growth estimate for the last quarter to minus 3.6% from an earlier reported contraction of 3.0%. The change reflected weaker consumer and public demand and trade and lower levels of private inventories.

Japan's Parliament is expected to approve a proposed record stimulus package of 56 trillion yen ($490 billion), including cash handouts and aid to ailing businesses, to help the economy out of the doldrums worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.