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Contracts pegged to major US stock indices fell on Thursday evening as Wall Street appeared to end the record week on a muted note.
Dow futures lost 34 points while S&P 500 futures tipped just below the flatline. Nasdaq-100 futures were down 11.75 points, or about 0.1%.
The after-hours moves came after a strong showing of the Nasdaq Composite earlier in the day during the regular session.
The index rose to a new record when investors made bets on strong technical gains next week. The tech-heavy benchmark climbed 0.6% to close at a new high, largely thanks to a 3.7% population in Apple stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both had more muted sessions, with the former falling 12 points and the latter less than 0.1% to hit yet another high.
Hopes for a robust earnings season from the country’s largest communications and technology stocks have kept mega-cap stocks rising during the holiday-shortened week and the major indices close to records.
Apple and Facebook are up 7.7% and 8.6% respectively from their quarterly results this week, while Microsoft has gained 5.8%.
Wall Street’s eyes are still on Washington as new president Joe Biden works to lay the early foundations of his Covid-19 and economic recovery agenda.
Investors are increasingly confident that a reduced version of Biden’s original $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus bill will be considered by Congress. Some moderate senators have expressed doubts about the need for another bill, especially one with such a price tag, less than a month after Congress passed a $ 900 billion stimulus measure in December.
Meanwhile, the Senate is expected to overwhelmingly confirm former Fed Chairman Janet Yellen as Biden’s Treasury Secretary Friday. If confirmed, she would be the first woman to run the department.
In corporate news, IBM shares fell more than 6% in the extended session after the company reported fourth-quarter sales that analysts expected. Sales were down 6% year on year, the fourth consecutive quarter of declines.