Stock futures soared on Tuesday night, extending previous advances as investors awaited the first shares in the new Biden government.
Dow Jones contracts added more than 50 points, or 0.2%, with the start of the evening session. Netflix (NFLX) shares soared 12% at the end of the trading session, after the company added more users than expected in the fourth quarter and exceeded 200 million subscribers for the first time.
On Wednesday, all eyes will be on the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, which will take place on the Western Front of the Capitol around noon, in a socially distant and reduced event.
In his early hours in office, Biden should immediately start signing executive actions to deal with the pandemic, the virus-affected economy, climate change and racial equality, according to a weekend memo from the new chief of staff at White House, Ron Klain.
In addition, Biden is expected to start pushing quickly to get more help for virus relief in the economy, after unveiling a $ 1.9 trillion proposal last week that would include increased stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits and aid to governments. state and local, among other measures.
Janet Yellen, appointed Biden for Treasury Secretary, defended significant additional spending on coronavirus assistance during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, and added that she would work with the Biden government on other priorities as well, including increased investment in infrastructure, enacting environmental protection legislation and possible tax reforms.
Still, their discussions about the $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package have met with some resistance from Republican lawmakers, many of whom refused to approve another major package that they suggested might not be targeted enough to provide support only to those they need most.
The number of human and economic victims of the virus became even more evident on Tuesday, when the United States first surpassed the terrible 400,000 coronavirus-related deaths. Deaths and hospitalizations have increased in the past week, with the post-holiday peak emerging at full strength.
But even with the current spread of the virus, traders have fixed their gaze firmly on the future, waiting for the acceleration of the launch of the vaccine against the coronavirus and the economic reopening that should occur in its wake.
“The markets are looking to the future, so it’s not exactly an immediate increase in coronavirus, in the case of hospitalizations. It’s more about what the economy will be like this year, ”Ryan Payne, president of Payne Capital Management, told Yahoo Finance on Tuesday. “And I think that when you start looking at [the fact that] you have a new president, you have a Democratic majority in the House and Senate, the only thing I think we can bet on here is that we’ll see spending it all on this $ 1.9 trillion project that they’re trying to spend, of the US $ 3 trillion we spent last year, plus the US $ 900 billion we spent in December, and we could see some infrastructure agreement in the future, which will be another billion dollar bill. “
“We are seeing so much liquidity out there, and I think what the market is saying now – you are starting to see interest rates going up, you are starting to see commodity prices going up – that inflation is a real thing and printing all this money will certainly cause inflation, as we look at the end of the year ”, he added.
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6:06 pm Eastern Time, Tuesday: Stock futures rise, extending previous earnings
Here are the main movements in the markets, starting at 6:06 pm ET on Tuesday:
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S&P 500 Futures (ES = F): 3,799.5, an increase of 9 points or 0.24%
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Dow Futures (YM = F): 30,878.00, 50 points increase or 0.16%
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Nasdaq Futures (NQ = F): 13,044.25, an increase of 58.75 points or 0.45%
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