By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The S&P 500 and Dow closed at records Wednesday, led by a Biogen-fueled rally in healthcare and gains in big tech.  

To reach its 70th year-end record, the index rose 0.1%. It rose 0.3% (90 points) to 36,488.63, a new record. The Nasdaq was not affected.

Biogen (NASDAQ:) jumped more than 9% intraday after the Korea Economic Daily reported that the company was in talks about a possible to sale to electronics giant Samsung.

Earlier this year, Samsung (KS:) detailed plans to bolster its footprint across multiple sectors including biopharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence.

To help the wider market, big tech mainly reduced its losses.

Microsoft (NASDAQ;), Google-parent Alphabet [NASDAQ:], Apple (NASDAQ]) reduced intraday losses while Facebook (NASDAQ), and Amazon were both well below their session lows. 

But, in Chinese tech Alibaba (NYSE) plunged more than 2% after Bloomberg reported that the online giant had been in discussions to sell its Weibo stake (NASDAQ:), to Shanghai Media Group.

Even though oil prices recovered from their session lows, energy was still a problem for the wider market. This is despite U.S. Petroleum Data showing a greater than anticipated fall in crude stocks and an increase in production.  

Schlumberger (NYSE:), ONEOK (NYSE:), Baker Hughes (NYSE:) were the largest decliners.

Omicron-driven data from Delta Air Lines (NYSE 🙂 continued the trading of airline stocks. 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.

The broader market surpassed its 70-year mark.^ThWall Street continues to anticipate a record-breaking year and expects even more from 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.