Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P Live Updates for January 25, 2021

Photographer: Nicolas Asfouri / AFP / Getty Images

Asian stocks, US and European stock futures rallied Monday as investors focused on the prospect of additional fiscal stimulus and Federal Reserve supportive policies amid the worsening pandemic. The dollar fell.

Stocks performed better in South Korea and Hong Kong, although Japanese stocks changed little. US futures pointed higher, with Nasdaq 100 contracts leading the way in a slew of technical earnings reports this week. The S&P 500 slipped on sobering virus trends on Friday. Government bond yields rose slightly.

The Hong Kong stock market was boosted by a surge Tencent Holdings Ltd. The internet giant has become a first target for mainland China merchants flooding record amounts of cash into Hong Konglisted shares this year.

Global stocks are close to their all-time high as expansive stimulus measures address concerns stemming from the further blocking of the coronavirus and patchy vaccine rollout, leading to a more difficult start for the global economy in 2021 than previously expected.

US lawmakers are sparring over President Joe Biden’s proposed $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 contingency plan, but investors continue to expect some additional spending eventually. Traders are too Hoping that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will give assurance after Wednesday’s policy meeting that $ 120 billion in monthly bond purchases will not be phased out anytime soon.

“Investors are seeing continued open-spigot monetary policy and more fiscal stimulus,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex. “Coupled with the introduction of the vaccine, it will generate critical mass of more robust economic growth as the year progresses.”

Global coronavirus cases are approaching the 100 million mark, with the US stepping up surveillance of virus variants to monitor their impact on vaccinations. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a tweet that he is infected with Covid-19.

Elsewhere, oil and gold were stable and Bitcoin traded around $ 33,000 after a drop last week.

These are some important events in the coming week:

• Microsoft Corp., Apple inc., Tesla Inc., Facebook Inc., UBS Group AG and Samsung Electronics Co. belongs to the companies that report results.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to speak Monday at the World Economic Forum’s online event “The Davos Agenda 2021”.
• Governor Yi Gang of the People’s Bank of China and Philip Lane, Chief Economist of the European Central Bank, speak at a conference on Monday.
• Data on home prices in the US and consumer confidence comes Tuesday.
• The Federal Open Market Committee’s monetary policy decision and chairman Jerome Powell’s briefing are scheduled for Wednesday.
• Fourth quarter GDP, first jobless claims and new home sales are among the data to be released in the US on Thursday.
• Personal income, expenses, and pending home sales in the US come Friday.

These are the main movements in markets:

Shares

• S&P 500 futures are up 0.4% from 2:36 PM in Tokyo. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% on Friday.
• Japan’s Topix index has changed little.
• South Korea’s Kospi index added 2.1%.
• Hang Seng Index rose 1.9%.
• The Australian S & P / ASX 200 Index rose 0.4%.
• Shanghai Composite added 0.6%.
• Futures on Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.3%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index lost 0.2%.
• The yen was at 103.69 per dollar, up 0.1%.
• The offshore yuan climbed 0.2% to 6.4838 per dollar.
• The euro was $ 1.2181.
• The British pound added 0.2% to $ 1.3714.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds was 1.09%.

Raw materials

• West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil was flat at $ 52.29 a barrel.
• Gold had changed little at $ 1,855 an ounce.

– With the help of Joanna Ossinger