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.