By Yasin Ebrahim

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

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to notch its 70th record close of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%, or 90 points to a record of 36,488.63. The Nasdaq was flat.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) jumped more than 9% intraday after the Korea Economic Daily reported that the company was in talks about a possible to $42 billion sale to electronics giant Samsung.

Jefferies said that while reported $42 billion price tag "sounds reasonable," the deal could face valuation difficulties as Biogen and Eisai pharmaceuticals ready another Alzheimer’s drug candidate lecanemab with a readout expected in the fall of 2022.

Earlier this year, Samsung (KS:005930) detailed plans to bolster its footprint across multiple sectors including biopharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence.

Big tech mostly cut its losses to help the broader market to a record close.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) cut intraday losses, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) were well off their session lows. 

In Chinese tech, however, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) fell more than 2% following a Bloomberg report that the e-commerce giant was in early talks to sell part or all of its stake in social media platform company Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) to Shanghai Media Group.

Energy was a drag on the broader market even as oil prices rebounded from session lows after weekly U.S. petroleum data showed a larger than expected fall in crude stockpiles and ramp-up in production.  

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), ONEOK (NYSE:OKE), Baker Hughes (NYSE:BKR) were among the biggest decliners.

Airline stocks continued to trade to the tune of Omicron-led data as Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK) cancelled hundreds of flights amid rising cases of Omicron variant and weather conditions.

The U.S. hit a record seven-day case average of 262,034 cases on Tuesday, surpassing the prior record of 251,232 cases seen in January this year.

As the broader market notched its 70^th record high, some on Wall Street continue to expect more of the same 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.