A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain As Trump Signs $900B Covid-19 Relief Bill

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after President Donald Trump signed the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill. The House, on Monday, will vote to increase payments to individuals from $600 to $2,000 — a family of four would receive $5,200 under the proposal. Markets were closed on Friday for the Christmas Day holiday.

The Dallas Fed's general activity index for December is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET. The index is expected to decline to 5 in December versus November’s reading of 12.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 191 points to 30,300.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 29.25 points to 3,724.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 92.25 points to 12,796.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 19,136,150 with around 333,120 deaths. India reported a total of at least 10,207,870 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 7,484,280 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $51.76 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $48.68 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets


European markets were higher today driven by news of Britain and the European Union signing the long-awaited Brexit deal. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.6% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.6%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.9%, while German DAX 30 gained 1.5%. London's FTSE 100 is closed today for the Boxing Day holiday. Spain's retail sales fell 4.3% year-over-year in November.


Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.74%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.02%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.27% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.9%. Japan’s industrial production remained flat for November, while Hong Kong’s trade deficit shrank to HKD 25.6 billion in November versus HKD 26.2 billion in the year-ago month.

 

Broker Recommendation

SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Kinnate Biopharma Inc. KNTE with a Outperform rating and announced a price target of $52.


Kinnate Biopharma shares rose 2.2% to close at $38.00 on Thursday.

 

Breaking News

  • Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd BABA announced plans to raise its stock buyback program by an additional $4 billion. The company’s share repurchase program will now target a $10 billion buyback through the end of 2022.
  • Weibo Corporation WB reported upbeat results for its third quarter.
  • AstraZeneca Plc’s AZN Covid-19 vaccine could receive approval in the United Kingdom as early as Tuesday, according to the Financial Times.
  • Orphazyme A/S ADR ORPH disclosed that the FDA has extended the review period of the NDA for arimoclomol for the treatment of Niemann-Pick Disease Type C by three months.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Date
ticker
name
Actual EPS
EPS Surprise
Actual Rev
Rev Surprise
Posted In: EarningsNewsEurozoneFuturesSmall CapGlobalPre-Market OutlookMarketsA Peek Into The Markets
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!