Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — U.S. stocks markets opened generally higher on Wednesday, with a mix of economic data. They also wind down before the Christmas holidays. 

At 9:50 ET (1450 GMT), there was a 240-point increase, or 0.7%, at 35,993 point. Meanwhile, the had risen 0.5% to 0.3% and the 0.5% to 0.5% respectively. 

These indices added to the sharp gains on Wednesday amid growing scientific evidence suggesting that the new dominant strain of Covid-19 virus is significantly safer than the previous. The Omicron stream, according to data from South Africa and Denmark in the past 48 hours has shown an increased risk of serious illnesses.

The U.S. released its latest economic data in November. It showed a small decline in personal consumption, growing 0.6% compared to the prior month. It’s still an acceptable rate, but it is down significantly from the earlier part of the year. Analysts said that this added evidence to the belief that the consumer boom that was fueled by the stimulus payments in the first 18 months is slowing. 

This trend was also evident in the 0.1% decline in core November. It stripped out orders related to defense and aerospace, which are more volatile.