U.S. stock futures were little changed early Wednesday morning following a mixed session as traders continued to assess the threat of the omicron COVID-19 variant.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials were unchanged at 36,282.
Futures for the S&P 500 inched higher 2.5 points, or 0.1%, to 4,781.
Futures for the NASDAQ picked up 20.75 points, or 0.1%, to 16,508.75.
In the pre-market Wednesday, Tesla shares edged marginally higher after financial filings published late Tuesday showed CEO Elon Musk has sold another 934,090 shares, or about $1.02 billion worth of his holdings, in the electric vehicle company.
Tuesday’s moves are taking place during the “Santa Claus rally” period, which encompass the last five trading days of December and the first five of January. This is a historically strong period for the market, with the S&P 500 averaging a return of 1.7% since 1928.
The U.S. has confirmed more than 4.1 million COVID cases this month, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That’s well above November’s tally of 2.54 million. The country’s seven-day average of cases is also at 231,888 cases, more than triple the mean from Nov. 27.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week shortened its isolation recommendation for people who test positive from 10 days to five if they don’t have symptoms. Research from South Africa also suggests that omicron infections can boost immunity against the delta variant.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gave back 0.6% Wednesday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.8%.
Oil prices 43 cents to $75.55 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices tumbled $16.80 to $1,794.10 U.S. an ounce.