NEW YORK, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — U.S. stocks closed mixed on Tuesday as Wall Street weighed the risks from a rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 95.83 points, or 0.26 percent, to 36,398.21. The S&P 500 lost 4.84 points, or 0.10 percent, to 4,786.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 89.54 points, or 0.56 percent, to 15,781.72.

Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with utilities and consumer staples up 0.93 percent and 0.62 percent, respectively, outpacing the rest. Technology dropped 0.59 percent, the worst-performing group.

U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower with nine of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.

The above market reactions came as the COVID-19 infections continue to spike in the United States, fueled by soaring cases of the Omicron variant.

The country registered a record high of over 510,000 daily COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to latest data of Johns Hopkins University.

The current 7-day average daily increase of cases reached more than 240,000, showed latest statistics by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the highest figure since Jan. 13.