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Stock futures open slightly higher after selloff

By Tommy Flemm 2 years ago

Stock futures opened modestly higher Wednesday evening. The after-hours moves came on the heels of a steep selloff in markets during the regular session, with the Dow dropping 2.72%, or 710 points, for its worst day since its near-7% slide two weeks ago.

The risk-off mood came after some states in the South and West reported another day of increases in new coronavirus cases. California reported more than 7,100 new cases – a one-day record by far for the state – while Florida and Texas also reported record jumps in new cases at more than 5,500 each. Apple (AAPL) re-closed seven more retail locations in Houston, Texas, bringing its total re-closures nationwide to 18 as a result of the rise in infections.

New York, once the nation’s epicenter of new coronavirus cases, along with New Jersey and Connecticut called for a 14-day quarantine for visitors traveling from many of the

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Stock futures open little changed, pausing after rally

By Tommy Flemm 2 years ago

Stock futures traded near unchanged Tuesday evening after a rally during the regular session sent a number of big tech names and the Nasdaq Composite to record closing highs.

Market participants continued to eye increases in coronavirus cases in some regions in the country, with each of California, Texas and Arizona posting their largest daily case additions so far, as of Tuesday’s counts. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during an appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday that the “next couple of weeks are going to be critical” in containing the virus in states in the South and West where surges have appeared.

Still, state and local officials have so far largely tabled the idea of shutting down their state economies again, with Texas Gov. Greg Abott saying that a new lockdown would be the last option.

Despite the

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Capping US Treasury yields ‘remains an open question’

By Tommy Flemm 2 years ago

The Federal Reserve could soon renew its World War II-era policy of capping yields on U.S. government debt, as the central bank weighs its options on pinning down longer-term interest rates.

The central bank on Wednesday held rates steady at near-zero and suggested that it may not raise rates through 2022. But as markets look for more forward guidance on what the Fed may do in the future, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the Fed is looking “in some depth” at strategies that could clarify where policy will be headed in the medium-term.

One such strategy would be yield curve control, in which the central bank commits to purchasing U.S. Treasuries of a targeted maturity until their yields fall below stated levels.

“We’ll continue those discussions in upcoming meetings and evaluate our stance and communications as more information about the trajectory of the economy becomes available,” Powell said. 

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Stock futures open higher, extending rally

By Tommy Flemm 2 years ago

Stock futures opened higher Sunday evening, pointing toward advances to kick off the week.

An unexpectedly strong May jobs report fueled a stock rally that briefly sent the Nasdaq Composite above its February 19 record high during Friday’s session. The surge added to a weeks-long melt-up in equities, as investors eyed signs that early moves to reopen businesses were bringing back some workers and driving advances in economic activity.

“Nonfarm payrolls unexpectedly rebounded by 2.5mn [million] in May, and the details of the report are consistent with a large and genuine rebound in labor market activity,” Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius said in a note. “The unemployment rate declined from 14.7% in April to 13.3% in May, much lower than expected, though the BLS suggested that 16.4% of the workforce remains unemployed after adjusting for a misclassification of workers employed but not at work (down from 19.5% in

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Stock futures open little changed as protests continue, economic data stabilizes

By Tommy Flemm 2 years ago

Stock futures opened roughly flat Monday evening, as investors eyed stabilizing economic data alongside ongoing protests across the country, which spurred some concerns of a ramp-up in coronavirus cases following a deescalation in the outbreak.

Big Tech firms and the tech-heavy Nasdaq continued their run of outperformance, with the Nasdaq just 2.7% below its recent all-time high from February 19 as of Monday’s close.

On the economic data front, an index of U.S. manufacturing activity released Monday morning rose for the first time since January, stoking hopes that worst of the downturn was over, even as the gauge held in contractionary territory.

“We say better days ahead as the Institute of Supply Management still makes the claim that the broader economy is no longer in recession as long as their index is 42.8 or higher,” Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist for MUFG Union Bank, said in an email of the

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