New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange closed on new records on Monday after President Donald Trump signed the plan to support the US economy to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic the day before.

According to final results, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.68% to 30,403.97 points, a new record.

The high tech Nasdaq also hit a high, ending up 0.74% to 12,899.42 points.

The extended S&P 500 index also posted a new record at 3,735.36 points, up 0.87%.

"US stocks finished higher in the first of the last four sessions of the year on a nudge from President Trump who signed off on a bill providing much-needed aid and continued government funding." Schwab analysts commented.

Advances in vaccines have also fueled optimism on Wall Street with the British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca (+ 1.77%) on the way to obtaining a green light from the United Kingdom for its anti-Covid vaccine.

The post-Brexit deal between the European Union and the UK "also added to the positive mood," according to Schwab.

After a week of procrastination, Donald Trump finally ratified, in a dramatic turn on Sunday evening, a bipartite aid plan of 900 billion dollars which grants aid to households, extends federal aid paid to the unemployed and grants loans guaranteed to companies.

The Republican President also approved in the wake of a bill to finance the federal state, allowing the closure of public services on Tuesday ("shutdown").

The rise in stocks was driven on the Nasdaq by the communications and information technology sectors.

Apple gained 3.58%, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, climbed 2.14%, and Amazon advanced 3.51%.

The manufacturer of electric and hydrogen trucks Nikola, in fall last week, made a spectacular comeback (+ 19.31%) after a good rating from an analyst.

Few indicators were expected for the last stock market week of the year, ending Thursday with new requests for weekly unemployment benefits.

Among the actions of the day, Moderna, whose vaccine began to be administered in the United States last week, lost 9.72%.

In the bond market, the 10-year yield on Treasuries rose very slightly to 0.9247% from 0.9231% on Thursday.

© 2020 AFP