By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The S&P 500 struggled for direction Wednesday, after big tech stuttered for a second-straight day as investors awaited further catalysts for direction.

The Nasdaq fell 0.14%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.1%.

Microsoft (NASDAQ;), Google-parent Alphabet [NASDAQ:], Apple (NASDAQ]) were all roughly flat while Facebook (NASDAQ–) and Amazon(NASDAQ:) traded lower.

Both in Chinese tech and the meantime Alibaba (NYSE:) dropped more than 2 percent following Bloomberg’s report that the E-commerce Giant was in talks with Shanghai Media Group to sell a portion or all its stake in Weibo, a social media platform.

The broader market was affected by energy, even though oil prices recovered from their session lows. This happened despite the fact that crude oil stocks fell more than anticipated and production increased.  

Schlumberger (NYSE:), ONEOK (NYSE:), Baker Hughes (NYSE) were some of the worst decliners.

Omicron data, Delta Air Lines (NYSE -:) showed that airline stocks traded well into the future. Alaska Air (NYSE:) Hundreds of flights were cancelled due to rising Omicron variant cases and severe weather conditions.

On Tuesday, the U.S. set a new record for seven-day average case numbers of 262,034 in cases. This surpasses January’s record of 251,232.

While the wider market was within striking distance of attaining its 70th anniversary,^ThRecord high. Wall Street expects more in the New Year.

“If the S&P 500 ends near current levels, next year we could see a total return (index appreciation plus dividends) in the 10% to 12% range based on our current work,” Wells Fargo said.

“So even after a nice run higher this year, we see more upside through year-end 2022,” it added.

Biogen (NASDAQ) rose sharply intraday, following the Korea Economic Daily’s report that Biogen had been in discussions with Samsung.