Here are five things to know before Wednesday, January 6:
1.- Stock futures mixed as Wall Street bets win Democrats Senate
Stock futures were mixed on Wednesday as investors bet Democrats could win the US Senate and as tensions between the US and China rose again.
Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock defeated Senator Kelly Loeffler in Georgia to win one of two Senate rounds in the state. His victory puts the majority of the Senate within reach of the Democratic party.
The race between Republican Senator David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff remains too early to call, as votes were still counting, the Associated Press said.
Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 106 points and S&P 500 futures were down 6 points. Nasdaq futures fell 234 points, or 1.83%, amid concerns that major tech companies could face tougher antitrust controls under a Democrat-controlled Congress.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bill was 1% for the first time since March.
The elections in Georgia will determine whether Democrats take control of Congress and allow them to push through President-elect Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.
A switch to Democrats could lead to more tax incentives and higher taxes. Just one Republican victory would give the GOP enough votes to prevent Biden from pursuing his more ambitious trade, energy and security policies, analysts said.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, signed an executive order on Tuesday to ban transactions with eight Chinese apps, including Ant Group’s Alipay. China on Wednesday accused the US of abusing its powers, saying their actions only harmed US consumers.
2. – Wednesday economic calendar
US Economic Calendar Wednesday includes the ADP National Employment Report for December at 8:15 a.m.ET, the PMI Composite Final for December at 9:45 a.m., factory orders for November at 10 a.m., oil inventories for the week ending January 1 at 10:30 a.m. and minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting of December 15-16 at 2:00 pm
The earnings reports will be released by Simply Good Foods on Wednesday (SMPL) – Request report, Greenbrier Cos. (GBX) – Request report and MSC Industrial Direct (MSM) – Request report.
3. – Alibaba reportedly plans $ 5 billion bond sale
Alibaba (BABA) – Request report plans to raise at least $ 5 billion this month through the sale of a US dollar-denominated bond, Reuters reported, citing knowledgeable people.
Proceeds from the offer could reach $ 8 billion, depending on investor response, a person close to the case told Reuters. The company would likely use the funds for general operating expenses.
The offer would come amid increased scrutiny from the Chinese authorities by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma’s empire.
Ma, who has not been seen or heard from since November, angered Chinese President Xi Jinping with a speech in October attacking the role of the government in dampening creativity and innovation in the technology sector. Since then, government officials have launched an antitrust investigation in Alibaba and have overturned plans for the first public offering of its online banking subsidiary, Ant Group.
CNBC reported on Tuesday that Ma was not “missing” in the sense that his location was unknown, but rather was “low” in terms of his public appearances in the hope that he can accommodate the current government response.
Alibaba’s US certificates fell 1.71% to $ 234 in premarket trading Wednesday.
4. – NYSE could reverse the course of China Telco’s deletion again
The New York Stock Exchange is considering changing course a second time to scrap three major Chinese telecommunications companies after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin criticized the NYSE’s surprising decision to delay the companies, Bloomberg reported, citing three people familiar with the case.
The NYSE’s decision to keep the listings came as a surprise and created confusion among officials from the US Treasury and State Departments and the National Security Council. The NYSE reversal also caused annoyance reaching the highest levels of the Trump administration, Bloomberg reported.
Last week, the NYSE said it would remove the stock to comply with a US government order signed by President Trump prohibiting investment in 35 companies owned or controlled by the Chinese military. But Monday, the Big Board said in a statement “it no longer plans to proceed with the deletion” after “consultation with the relevant regulatory authorities.”
But on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that the exchange could still go ahead with the deletion.
China mobile (CHL) – Request report, China Telecom (NO) – Request report and China Unicom (CHU) – Request report lost more than $ 30 billion in market value in the closing weeks of 2020 as investors sold the stock on Trump’s orders. They shed a whopping $ 12 billion more when their US certificates tumbled Monday following the NYSE’s decision to delist them. Prices rose Tuesday after the NYSE canceled the deletion, and went down again after Bloomberg’s story became known.
5.- Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, gets big pay rise for 2020
Apple (AAPL) – Request report CEO Tim Cook saw his cash bonus increase 40% to $ 10.7 million last year after the tech giant exceeded its internal financial targets for the past fiscal year.
Cook’s bonus was down 36% in 2019 as his salary fell as revenues and profits fell, coupled with weaker iPhone sales, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Journal reported that according to Apple’s proxy filing, Cook’s 2020 salary, excluding acquired shares, totaled $ 14.8 million, including the cash bonus and a $ 3 million salary that did not change from the foregoing year.
Cook also held a total of $ 281.9 million in restricted stock that vested during the year.
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