Here are five things to know before Tuesday, December 22:
1.- Stock futures wobble after Congress passes the Exemption Act
Stock futures rallied higher on Tuesday as investors looked past the passage through Congress of a $ 900 billion pandemic relief package and instead remained focused on the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus in the UK, which Wall Street was worried about. spread and lead to new restrictions on businesses.
Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 13 points, S&P 500 futures were up 8 points, and Nasdaq futures were up 58 points.
The mutant virus strain has prompted many European countries to ban flights to and from Great Britain. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson completely locked up London and the south-east of England.
“Investors seem to be acting more cautiously … are becoming more selective and are likely waiting for a better understanding of the new mutant virus before diving aggressively back into the airline, travel and leisure-vaccinated wagons,” said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist a cab.
Newly implemented lockdowns and other attempts made to contain the spread of the virus strain variant had some optimism about the $ 900 billion stimulus package that passed Congress on Monday.
The House and Senate have voted to approve the aid package as part of a massive end-of-year spending bill.
The White House has said President Donald Trump would sign the legislation.
The pandemic bill includes additional unemployment benefits of $ 300 a week through March, and a $ 600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans starting next week.
2.- Apple Reportedly Aiming for ‘iCar’ by 2024
Apple (AAPL) – Request report has set a goal to build a passenger car by 2024 that will have both self-driving technology and the technology giant’s proprietary battery technology, Reuters reported.
Citing people familiar with the case, Reuters reported that Apple’s “Project Titan,” which began developing a vehicle in 2014, has progressed to the point that the company is striving to build a consumer car.
According to the report, Apple is focusing on a new design that sources said could “radically” reduce the cost of batteries and increase the vehicle’s range, according to a person who has seen Apple’s battery design.
But pandemic-related delays could delay the start of production until 2025 or later, the report said.
Apple rose in premarket trading, up 2.58% to $ 131.54. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) – Request report fell on Monday after the Reuters report was released, but rose nearly 1% in premarket trading.
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3. – Tesla drops in S&P 500 debut
Speaking of Tesla, shares of the world’s # 1 electric vehicle manufacturer closed their first day of trading as part of the S&P 500 in red.
Tesla was down 6.49% to close at $ 649.86 on Monday. The company, the most valuable company ever added to the S&P 500, closed at a record high of $ 695 on Friday as demand from index funds pushed the stock to a record high.
But on Monday it appeared that investors were cashing in on Tesla after its addition to the index. The Wall Street Journal noted that Tesla’s drop on Monday accounted for more than a quarter of the S&P 500’s 0.4% drop.
According to data from Dow Jones, the stock was the worst performing stock in the S&P 500 on day one of the index.
Tesla is TheStreet’s # 1 of the year
Despite Monday’s declines, Tesla shares gained 677% in 2020.
In premarket trading on Tuesday, Tesla was up 0.67% to $ 654.23.
4. – Tuesday calendar: GDP, consumer confidence
Tuesday’s economic calendar includes the latest reading for third quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m.ET, consumer confidence for December at 10 a.m., and existing home sales for November at 10 a.m.
Income reports are expected from CarMax on Tuesday (KMX) – Request report and Cintas (CTAS) – Request report.
5.- Ripple Says It Faces SEC Suit Over XRP Cryptocurrency
Ripple Labs said it is facing a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission over its affiliated token, XRP.
The SEC has “inexplicably decided to sue Ripple,” CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.
He did not specify the exact nature of the lawsuit, but claimed that XRP was a currency and “does not need to be registered as an investment contract.”
“The SEC has allowed XRP to function as a currency for more than eight years,” he told Bloomberg. Garlinghouse said Ripple will take the case to court “to get clear traffic rules for the entire US industry”
XRP fell a whopping 13%, hitting its lowest level in about a week. XRP is the largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and Ether.