The U.S. adopted a bill allowing U.S. President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan. However, it would pass without Republican support. It is something that will speed the package’s progress into law.
The Senate ended voting on a series of non-binding amendments just after 5:30 AM ET. After a marathon session, it saw spirited opposition from Republican Senators to various provisions of the bill.
Vice-President Kamala Harris used her casting vote in advance. She set a precedent that is likely to be repeated often over the next couple of years. This is considering the Senate’s 50-50 split.
Biden is due to meet with the House of Representatives in early Friday. So far this year, the stimulus package has been one of the biggest factors supporting markets.
Jobs Report
The U.S. government should release its monthly labor market report at 8:30 AM ET (1430 GMT).
At the start of the week, forecasts indicated a gain of 50,000 nonfarm jobs in the month through mid-January. ADP’s private-sector payrolls report showed gains of 174,000.
Two successive positive surprises from weekly jobless claims suggest the labor market is healing somewhat faster. Moreover, the jobless rate should stay at 6.7%.
There were mixed signals overnight from other big economies. In December, German factory orders fell by 1.9% more than expected.
The Reserve Bank of Australia outlined a quick recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The sharp rebound helped it in Chinese demand for its commodities, despite Beijing’s move to route import orders away from Australia in response to its criticism over China’s role in the pandemic.
Stocks: Memes Bounce in Premarket
U.S. stocks should extend their gains on Friday. This followed a combination of positive labor market data and progress on the stimulus plan.
These were all washed down by the continuing abundance of central bank liquidity driving indices to new all-time highs on Thursday.
Dow Jones futures were up 145 points, or 0.5% by 6:30 AM ET (1130 GMT). S&P 500 futures were up in line while Nasdaq futures were slightly lagging with a gain of 0.3%.
Likely to be in focus later is Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:PTON), which fell 6.8% in the premarket. It has warned that it was struggling to meet the demand for its connected exercise bikes.
Another stock to be in focus later is Ford Motor (NYSE:F). It rose 0.6% after saying it will have to idle production of the F-150 pickup due to a shortage of semiconductors.
Another stock in focus is GameStop (NYSE:GME), which was up 7.4% in premarket trading. It has lost another 42% on Thursday. Additionally, AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), which lost 21% on Thursday, was indicated up 4.1%.
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