US stock index futures were slightly higher in early morning trading as the market tried to regain record highs.
Contracts tied to the Dow Jones industrial average gained 71 points. The future S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are trading in slightly positive territory.
The move came after the main averages closed lower on Tuesday, leaving the first gains that pushed the shares to record highs in the opening bell. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 hit three-day winning streaks, each falling 0.22%. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, fell 0.38%.
The Russell 2000 closed 1.85% lower, for its third consecutive negative session.
In Washington, lawmakers continued to disagree about direct payments to Americans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s effort to speed up the House bill passed Monday afternoon that would increase checks by $ 600 at $ 2,000. Stimulus payments could come out as early as Tuesday evening, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
President Donald Trump has backed higher payments and on Tuesday said in a tweet that the measure “POSSIBILITY. $ 600 IS NOT ENOUGH!”
With only two business days left for the year, the main averages are on track to end 2020 higher. The Dow rose 6.3% year-on-year, while the S&P 500 gained 15.36%. Despite some recent selling pressures, the Russell 2000 continues to rise 17.4% during the year.
But the current clear winner so far is the Nasdaq Composite, which has gained 43%.
“We expect strong economic growth to grow again in 2021 in the wake of the 2020 pandemic and the 2019 US-China trade war,” said Brian Demain, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors. “While so far leadership has been reduced (limited mainly to the digital economy), we anticipate a broader recovery, as vaccines are widely implemented and consumers can rejoin the physical economy,” he said. add.
The number of Covid cases continues to rise. The United States now records at least 180,905 new cases and at least 2,210 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using data from Johns Hopkins University. On Tuesday, the United States confirmed its first case of the fastest-spreading coronavirus strain initially discovered in the United Kingdom.
Some investors say another wind against future stocks is forecasting some of the hottest stocks of the year.
Interactive Brokers President Thomas Peterffy told “Squawk Alley” on Tuesday that something “fantastically unusual” has happened in recent days: its clients are not reaching the market for the first time.
“Our customers tend to be on the side of selling options, and there is such a demand for these money options that our customers tend to become sellers,” he said. “So Robinhood’s options are long and Interactive Brokers clients don’t have those options,” he added. In other words, while not necessarily a direct bet on the advantage, customers take advantage of such high demand on the other side.
Charles Bobrinskoy, vice president of Ariel Investments, reiterated the dangers of a momentum driven by momentum.
“It can’t be that the way to earn by investing is just by buying what’s been the last two years,” he told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday. “That works in momentum markets. Momentum markets are wonderful until they turn. But when they turn, it’s ugly,” he said.
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