Equity futures traded higher late Thursday as traders revealed the details of Pres. Consider Joe Biden’s newly unveiled stimulus proposal and weigh the possibility that the package has progressed rapidly through Congress.
Contracts on all three major indices traded just above the flat line on Thursday night, shaking off the decline during the normal trading day. Both the Dow and Nasdaq previously achieved intraday record highs before closing lower.
Biden outlined his $ 1.9 billion coronavirus relief donation late Thursday, which included a number of additional aids to add to the provisions in the $ 900 billion package adopted by Congress in December.
Biden’s proposal, dubbed the U.S. bailout plan, is aimed at offering $ 1,400 incentive payments to most Americans, increasing federal unemployment benefits by $ 100 to $ 400 a week and extending it to the end of September and $ 350 billion to provide support to state and local residents. governments, which is excluded from Congress’ latest package. It also seeks to increase the minimum wage to $ 15 per hour and provide additional funds to schools, including setting up COVID-19 testing and vaccination.
The overall size of the package was largely in line with what investors expected in the proposal, and would only compete against the $ 2.2 billion relief from the CARES law last spring. Some experts say whether the package will be advanced in the short term or not is the next important question for markets.
‘We need to distinguish between willingness and ability. I have no doubt that the incoming Biden administration wants to grow. ‘They want to make a big contribution to relief, they want to make a big contribution to the infrastructure, they want to make a big contribution to local and state government, and with good reason,’ ‘says Mohamed El-Erian, president of Queens College Cambridge University and chief economic adviser Allianz told Yahoo Finance on Thursday. ‘But they have a razor-sharp majority in Congress, and a razor-sharp in the Senate. And getting through it is not going to be easy. Add to that, there are questions about the accusation process, there are questions about nominations, there is COVID.
‘I think the market has therefore priced a large package. This is in line with what Biden’s government wants to do. The question that the market will have to deal with is whether it is able to do so given what the Senate will have to look at in the next few weeks and months, ”he added.
Support for financial markets and the economy nevertheless came during the pandemic from various quarters, and many members of the Federal Reserve, in turn, recently doubled their commitment to crisis-era policies. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a webinar on Thursday that he believes the US economy is still “far from our goals” and that “now is not the time to talk about retirement” if it is about the Fed’s thinking about its massive consideration. , asset-buying program of the pandemic era.
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18:01 ET Thursday: Stock contracts open higher
These were the main movements in markets from 18:03 on Thursday:
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S&P 500 futures (ES = F): 3 794.75, with 3.5 points or 0.09% higher
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Dow futures (YM = F): 30,932.00, 23 points higher or 0.07%
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Nasdaq futures (NQ = F): 12,918.75, with 17.75 points or 0.14%
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