Stock futures rise even after Trump slams Covid stimulus bill

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U.S. stock futures edged higher early Wednesday, largely recovering from earlier declines after President Donald Trump expressed concerns about the new Covid-19 relief package which could delay the deployment of funds to struggling Americans.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 80 points, or 0.3%. The implied an opening gain of about 85 points. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.1%.

 

Late on Tuesday, Trump called the new $900 billion Covid relief bill an unsuitable “disgrace” and admonished lawmakers to alter the bill’s contents, especially the amount allocated for direct payments to Americans. Trump did not threaten to veto the legislation but he asked to be sent a “suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a Covid relief package.”

“President Trump’s demand for revisions to the COVID relief bill to raise the individual payment amount to $2,000 significantly raises uncertainty for the days ahead, but our base case remains that the bill passed by Congress will become law,” wrote Ed Mills of Raymond James overnight. “The bill becomes law on Jan. 3 without any action taken by the President – although a government shutdown occurs if the bill is not signed by Dec. 28.”

Congress passed the rescue bill this week with $900 billion in pandemic aid after months-long negations. The package includes additional jobless benefits, more small business loans, direct payments of $600 and funds to distribute Covid-19 vaccines, among other provisions.

On Wednesday, Pfizer and BioNTech announced a second deal with the U.S. government to supply an additional 100 million doses of their jointly-developed Covid-19 vaccine. The deal brings the total number of doses to 200 million, which will be delivered to the U.S. by the end of July next year. 

On the data front, U.S. jobless claims totaled 803,000 during the week ending Dec. 19, better than an estimate of 880,000 according to economists polled by Dow Jones. However, core durable goods and personal income both fell short of expectations in November.

 

In the previous session, the Dow shed 200 points and the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% for its third straight day of losses. Travel-related stocks came under pressure amid lingering concerns about the new coronavirus strain from the U.K. 

The Nasdaq Composite was the outperformer on Tuesday, closing up 0.5% at a new record as Apple jumped nearly 3%. The small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 also hit a record high, more than doubling off their March lows.

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