Here are five things you need to know by Monday, December 28th:
1. – Stock futures increase as Trump signs the stimulus bill
Stock futures rose Monday after President Donald Trump signed a combined $ 2.3 trillion package for coronavirus and government funding, backtracking on demands for aid controls in excess of $ 2,000 and avoiding the closure of government.
Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 178 points, futures S&P 500 rose 26 points and futures on the Nasdaq rose 89 points.
Trump had delayed signing the bill, suggesting he would block it if stimulus controls did not increase to $ 2,000 from $ 600 passed by Congress last week and if spending was not reduced.
But by delaying signing, up to 14 million Americans lost a week of extended unemployment benefits.
The massive bill includes $ 900 billion in pandemic relief and $ 1.4 trillion in government spending to fund federal agencies until the end of next fiscal year
The stimulus “could support the market and support the US economy,” Credit Suisse strategist Suresh Tantia told Bloomberg. “Next year there are all the basics for markets to continue this concentration.”
The S&P 500 has risen nearly 15% in 2020. On Thursday, the last trading session before Christmas, the S&P 500 rose 0.36%, the Dow added 0.23% and the Nasdaq gained 0.26 %.
2. – Coronavirus: the last
The number of confirmed global deaths from Covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, rose to nearly 1.77 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. Confirmed cases of the virus worldwide have risen to 80.83 million.
The death toll in the US is 333,129, the highest in the world. The number of people infected in the US was 19,136,158.
There were 226,274 new cases of coronavirus in the United States as of Sunday and 1,663 deaths, according to university data.
California hospitalizations hit a record high after the state added 50,141 cases, one of the highest levels in two weeks, Bloomberg reported. The total death toll in California was 24,220.
The Covid-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca (AZN) – Get the report and Oxford University could be approved by the UK as early as this week, Bloomberg reported, citing someone familiar with the matter.
Approval would come about three weeks after the UK became the first Western country to start vaccinating its citizens with a Covid-19 vaccine, the shot made by Pfizer PFE and BioNTech BNTX.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said on Sunday that investigators believe the British drug maker’s shot will be effective against a new variant of the virus that has rapidly raised infection rates in Britain.
3. – China orders Ant Group to review its business
Shares listed in the United States by Alibaba (BABA) – Get the report fell 1% in premarket trading on Monday after Chinese regulators ordered Ant Group to review its loans and other consumer finance transactions.
Alibaba has a 33% stake in Ant Group, the world’s largest financial technology company.
The announcement by the People’s Bank of China came just days after regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba, the e-commerce giant. It was also followed by the suspension of the Shanghai Stock Exchange last month from Ant Group’s $ 37 billion pending listing, which would have been the world’s largest initial public offering.
Regulators said in a statement on Sunday that they had ordered Ant Group to formulate a rectification plan and implement a timetable for reviewing its businesses, including credit, insurance and wealth management services.
Alibaba U.S. deposit receipts fell 0.99% in premarket trade to $ 219.81. ADRs fell more than 13% Thursday after news of the antitrust investigation.
4. – Bitcoin destroys up to $ 28,000
Bitcoin climbed to a record above $ 28,000 earlier Sunday and has been boosted further in recent days as institutional investors and speculators have climbed the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin crossed $ 25,000 on Friday night and then topped $ 26,000 and $ 27,000 over the weekend, according to CoinDesk. In the last check, Bitcoin traded at $ 26,758.
Bloomberg noted that Bitcoin’s excessive returns during the months of October, November and December so far are the longest stretch since mid-2019.
Bitcoin crossed $ 20,000 for the first time on December 16th.
Many experts believe that there will be more gains ahead of Bitcoin; some expect it to trade above $ 30,000. But if investors and speculators lose confidence in digital currency, they can easily dive in as they did in February and March and from December 2017 to December 2018.
5. – Economic calendar this week
Monday’s U.S. economic calendar is light, but data on home sales, unemployment claims and trade will be released later in the week.
Very few companies will issue profit reports this week. Among which will be SINA (SINA) – Get the report, Weibo (WB) – Get the report and CSP Inc. (CSPI) – Get the report.