S&P 500 closes flat, giving up most of the gain; European stocks close higher on hopes for a Brexit trade deal; BELEX15 up 1.38% 
The S&P 500 erased most of its gains and closed little changed on Wednesday amid year-end profit-taking, while policy uncertainty weighed on sentiment as President Donald Trump picked fights with Congress. The broad equity benchmark rose less than 0.1%, or just 2.75 points, to 3,690.01 after climbing as much as 0.7% earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 114.32 points, or 0.38%, to 30,129.83. At its session high, the 30-stock benchmark gained 277 points. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%, or 36.80 points, to 12,771.11 as tech heavyweights Amazon, Apple and Microsoft all dipped. 
On Wednesday, Pfizer and BioNTech announced a second deal with the U.S. government to supply an additional 100 million doses of their jointly-developed Covid-19 vaccine. The deal brings the total number of doses to 200 million, which will be delivered to the U.S. by the end of July next year. 
On the data front, U.S. jobless claims totaled 803,000 during the week ending Dec. 19, better than an estimate of 888,000 according to economists polled by Dow Jones. However, core durable goods and personal income both fell short of expectations in November. 

European markets closed higher on Wednesday as investors hoped a Brexit trade deal could be reached amid concerns over the approval of a long-delayed U.S. coronavirus stimulus package. 
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed up 1.1%, with travel and leisure stocks climbing 3.67% to lead the gains. Health care stocks bucked the trend to slip around 0.4%. 
Travel and leisure shares got a boost from news that France had lifted its travel restrictions Wednesday. Sector leaders included German airline Lufthansa, which was up 4.3%, and aircraft manufacturer Airbus, up 4.6%. 

BELEX15 added 1.38% as we sow some more material gains at Energoprojekt, Belgrade Airport, Tehnogas and NIS. The most active name was NIS as it generated RSD 16m in volume. December’s end is typical when BELEX listed names experience some gains. 
Source: CNBC, Ilirika