Peter Nurse   

Investing.com – U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally higher Thursday, ending the year on a positive note amid growing confidence the Omicron Covid variant won’t cause serious economic damage.

The contract rose 60 points or 0.2% at 7AM ET (1200 GMT) and traded 10 points or 0.2% higher. It also climbed 45 point, or 0.3%, to reach the highest level of 0.3%.

Each of the three major indices is on track to finish the year higher with the and rising 28% and 19% respectively, while the and rose 22%.

Stock markets rise on hope that no new restrictions or curbs will be required for coronavirus in the New Year, even though there are more Omicron-type Covid-19 cases.

Helping the tone Thursday was the news of a study showing a booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:) single-dose vaccine was 84% effective at preventing hospitalization in South African healthcare workers who became infected by the Omicron variant.

According to Rochelle Walensky, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths are also “comparatively” low. This is despite the fact that cases in the United States have reached an all-time high.

Elsewhere, Micron (NASDAQ:) will be in the spotlight after the chipmaker warned that strict Covid-19 curbs in the Chinese city of Xi’an could disrupt its chip manufacturing unit in the area. 

Biogen’s stock fell in premarket trading after Samsung (KS) Biologics denied that it was buying an American biotech company.

Thursday’s main economic release is the weekly number, at 8:30 AM ET (1330 GMT), which is expected to be largely unchanged from the previous week’s 205,000, a level that is generally consistent with pre-pandemic levels.

While oil prices declined on Thursday, it was able to regain some of its gains. However, the year will end with increasing optimism about how energy demand will be resilient against the effects of the omicronvirus wave.

U.S. fell by 3.6 million barrels in the week to Dec. 24, according to data from the Energy Information Administration, released Wednesday, suggesting demand remains strong in the world’s largest energy consumer.

At 7AM ET futures had fallen 0.6% to $76.09/barrel while contract prices fell 0.6%, to $78.72. These contracts will see annual gains of 50% to 60% by 2021. It is one of the most significant increases in over a decade.

Furthermore, it fell 0.1% to $1.803.25/oz and traded 0.2% higher at 1.1322.