Stocks gave up gains on Thursday and finished lower as investors awaited the details of President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid-19 aid package.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average went into the red in the last hour, finishing close to 69 points, or 0.22%, to 30,991. It reached an intraday record at 31,223.
The S&P 500 was down 0.38%. The Nasdaq, which hit an intraday record of 13,220, gave up gains and lost 0.12%.
The tech sector had a rough day, with Apple (AAPL) – Request report, Amazon (AMZN) – Request report and Facebook (FB) – Request report all ready.
The Department of Labor reported that the number of jobless claims rose to nearly 1 million last week as the coronavirus pandemic continued to push companies to lay off workers.
The number of Americans claiming initial unemployment benefits last week has risen to 965,000, the largest increase in claims since March.
“At one point, tough job numbers as we saw (Thursday) may serve as a tinder for those asking for correction, but the market believes the light at the end of the tunnel remains in sight despite a painstaking vaccination. , says Mike Loewengart, investment strategy director at E-Trade.
“Furthermore, a more bleak than expected job report translates into a greater likelihood of a full-blown stimulus package that perversely acts like a tailwind for the market.”
Biden’s advisers recently told allies in Congress to expect a price tag of an aid package of about $ 2 trillion, CNN reported, citing two people who had been briefed on the deliberations.
Biden is expected to announce his plans for coronavirus control on Thursday evening.
According to the report, the proposal is expected to include significant direct payments to US families, and significant state and local funding, including for the distribution of coronavirus vaccines.
The benchmark return on 10-year Treasury rose to 1.092% on Thursday, near its 10-month high. Revenues have recently increased on expectations that the Biden government would ramp up government spending and add trillions to the country’s mounting debt and annual budget deficit.
Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said on Thursday in a discussion sponsored by Princeton University that the central bank would let the world know well in advance when it will start to run off asset purchases. Taper talk has been on the rise in recent times along with discussions of increased emergency expenditure.
“We know we have to be very careful when communicating about asset purchases,” he said. “This is not the time to talk about exit. I think that’s another lesson from the global financial crisis: be careful not to leave too early. “
Shares ended mixed Wednesday, shortly before the House voted to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting insurgency.
It was the second time Trump had been impeached during his administration and he is coming just a week before he is due to leave office.
The House voted 232 to 197 to impeach Trump. Ten Republican members joined the Democrats to vote to impeach the president.
It remains unclear when the Senate will lead a trial, although outgoing majority leader Mitch McConnell told Republican colleagues on Wednesday that it would not begin until Trump’s term ends on Jan. 20 and Biden takes office.
Delta Airlines (FROM) – Request report posted a larger-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter, but expects a turnaround in the industry this year as vaccine roll-out accelerates and international travel restrictions are lifted later in the spring.