"S&P 500 closes flat, giving up most of the gains in the final minutes of trading"

" \n The S&P 500 erased most of its gains and closed little changed on Wednesday amid year-end profit-taking, while policy uncertainty weighed on sentiment as President Donald Trump picked fights with Congress. \n \n\n \n The broad equity benchmark rose less than 0.1%, or just 2.75 points, to 3,690.01 after climbing as much as 0.7% earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 114.32 points, or 0.38%, to 30,129.83. \n \n\n \n At its session high, the 30-stock benchmark gained 277 points. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%, or 36.80 points, to 12,771.11 as tech heavyweights Amazon, Apple and Microsoft all dipped. \n \n\n \n Cyclical sectors \u2014 pockets of the market most sensitive to an economic recovery \u2014 provided the market with some support. Energy and financials were the two best-performing groups, rising 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively. \n \n\n \n Trump on Tuesday night railed against the new Covid-19 relief package, a move that could delay the deployment of funds to struggling Americans. Meanwhile,\u00a0Trump vetoed the sweeping defense bill\u00a0that authorizes\u00a0a topline of $740 billion in spending and outlines Pentagon policy. \n \n\n \n The president called the new $900 billion Covid relief package an\u00a0unsuitable \u201cdisgrace\u201d\u00a0and admonished lawmakers to alter the bill\u2019s content, especially to increase direct payments\u00a0to $2,000 from $600. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed with Trump\u2019s call for higher payments, and said House Democrats will seek to pass a standalone bill by unanimous consent Thursday. \n \n\n \n \u201cPresident Trump\u2019s demand for revisions to the COVID relief bill to raise the individual payment amount to $2,000 significantly raises uncertainty for the days ahead, but our base case remains that the bill passed by Congress will become law,\u201d wrote Ed Mills of Raymond James overnight. \u201cThe bill becomes law on Jan. 3 without any action taken by the President \u2013 although a government shutdown occurs if the bill is not signed by Dec. 28.\u201d \n \n\n \n Trump did not threaten to veto the legislation but he asked to be sent a \u201csuitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a Covid relief package.\u201d \n \n\n \n Congress passed the rescue bill this week with $900 billion in pandemic aid after monthslong negotiations. The package includes additional jobless benefits, more small business loans, direct payments of $600 and funds to distribute Covid-19 vaccines, among other provisions. \n \n\n \n \u201cIt feels like the market is following the rule of \u2018watch what he does, not what he says\u2019 in terms of the President\u2019s late night drive-by shooting of the Covid aid package,\u201d said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities. \u201cOdds are there is enough time to tweak the relief legislation enough to get it passed and signed.\u201d \n \n\n \n Travel-related stocks, which sold off earlier this week, rebounded as concerns about a new coronavirus strain from the U.K. eased. United Airlines and Delta climbed 2.7% each, while Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line jumped 5.7% and 6.2%, respectively. Health experts said the vaccines in production would be effective against the new variant. \n \n\n \n The S&P 500 was coming off its third straight day of losses after its recent rally to record highs. Some investors started taking profits after an unexpected year of solid gains. The broad equity benchmark is up more than 14% with only five trading days left in 2020. \n \n\n \n On Wednesday,\u00a0Pfizer\u00a0and BioNTech\u00a0announced a second deal\u00a0with the U.S. government to supply an additional 100 million doses of their jointly-developed Covid-19 vaccine. The deal brings the total number of doses to 200 million, which will be delivered to the U.S. by the end of July next year.\u00a0 \n \n\n \n The U.S. so far has vaccinated more than 1 million people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The federal government\u2019s goal is to inoculate 20 million Americans by the end of the year. \n \n\n \n On the data front,\u00a0U.S. jobless claims totaled 803,000\u00a0during the week ending Dec. 19, better than an estimate of 888,000 according to economists polled by Dow Jones. However, core durable goods and personal income both fell short of expectations in November. \n "

"S&P 500 closes flat, giving up most of the gains in the final minutes of trading"

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