Here are five things you need to know for Monday, December 28th:
1. – Stock contracts rise as Trump signs a stimulus bill
Equity futures rose on Monday after President Donald Trump signed a joint $ 2.3 billion package of coronavirus relief and government funding package, while falling behind demands to fend off larger $ 2,000 aids checks and a government strike.
Contracts linked to the Dow Jones industrial average rose 178 points, S&P 500 futures rose 26 points and Nasdaq futures rose 89 points.
Trump has delayed signing the bill, suggesting he would block it if stimulus checks were not increased to $ 2,000 from the $ 600 approved by Congress last week, and if spending was not reduced.
But by delaying the signing, as many as 14 million Americans are losing one week to extended unemployment benefits.
The massive bill includes $ 900 billion in pandemic relief and $ 1.4 billion in government spending to fund federal agencies until the end of the September financial year.
The stimulus ‘can support the market and support the US economy’, Credit Suisse strategist Suresh Tantia told Bloomberg. “Next year, all the building blocks are there for markets to continue this rally.”
The S&P 500 increased by almost 15% in 2020. On Thursday, the last trading session before Christmas, the S&P 500 rose 0.36%, the Dow added 0.23% and the Nasdaq rose 0.26%.
2. – Coronavirus – The latest
According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of confirmed worldwide deaths due to Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has risen to nearly 1.77 million. Confirmed cases of the virus around the world have risen to 80.83 million.
The U.S. death toll is 333,129, the most in the world. The number of infected people in the US was 19,136,158.
According to university data, there were 226,274 new cases of coronavirus in the US and 1,663 deaths.
California hospitalizations have risen to a record high after the state added 50,141 cases, one of the highest levels since a record two weeks ago, Bloomberg reported. The total death toll in California rose to 24,220.
The Covid-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca (AZN) – Get report and the University of Oxford could already be approved by the UK this week, Bloomberg reported, referring to a person familiar with the matter.
The approval would take place about three weeks after the UK became the first Western country to start immunizing its citizens with a Covid-19 vaccine, the shot made by Pfizer PFE and BioNTech BNTX.
Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said on Sunday that researchers believe the shot of the British drugmaker will be effective against a new variant of the virus that has rapidly increased infection rates in Britain.
3. – China orders Ant Group to revamp its business
US-listed shares of Alibaba (BABY) – Get report declined 1% in pre-trading on Monday after Chinese regulators ordered Ant Group to revamp its loans and other consumer finance operations.
Alibaba owns a 33% stake in Ant Group, the world’s largest financial technology company.
The announcement by the People’s Bank of China came days after regulators launched an anti-monopoly investigation by Alibaba, the e-commerce giant. It also follows the suspension of the Shanghai Stock Exchange last month on the pending $ 37 billion listing in Ant Group, which would be the largest initial public offering in the world.
Regulators said in a statement on Sunday that they had ordered Ant Group to draw up a correction plan and set up a timetable for the refurbishment of its businesses, including its credit, insurance and wealth management services.
U.S. depository receipts from Alibaba dropped 0.99% to $ 219.81 in the pre-trade. The ADRs fell more than 13% on Thursday after news of the monopolistic investigation.
4. – Bitcoin breaks through $ 28,000
Bitcoin rose to a record high of more than $ 28,000 early Sunday and has been driven higher over the past few days by institutional investors and speculators jumping aboard the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin crossed $ 25,000 on Friday night and, according to CoinDesk, rushed past $ 26,000 and $ 27,000 this past weekend. At the last check, bitcoin was trading at $ 26,758.
Bloomberg noted that bitcoin’s extraordinary returns so far in October, November and December are the longest since mid-2019.
Bitcoin crossed $ 20,000 for the first time on December 16th.
Many experts believe that more profits are ahead for bitcoin – some expect it to trade more than $ 30,000. But if investors and speculators lose confidence in the digital currency, it could easily decline as in February and March and from December 2017 to December 2018.
5. – Economic calendar this week
The U.S. economic calendar Monday is small, but information on home sales, jobless claims and trade will be released later in the week.
Very few companies will issue earnings reports this week. Those who count include SINA (SINA) – Get report, Weibo (WB) – Get report and CSP Inc. (CSPI) – Get report.