Stock futures were in a holding pattern Sunday evening ahead of a busy week of corporate earnings results, a Federal Open Market Committee monetary policy meeting and plethora of economic data reports.
Over the weekend, new coronavirus cases rose but showed signs of slowing in some US states, including in those that had recently been hard-hit by a resurgence in infections.
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CBS on Sunday that there are “unmistakable signs that the epidemic seems to be slowing” in states including Arizona and Texas, albeit while being “more of a mixed bag in Florida and California.” Florida on Saturday overtook New York to become the state with the second-most overall infections after California. On Sunday, Florida’s new cases were 9,344, or a drop from the previous day, to bring total cases to 423,855.
With coronavirus cases still on the rise and impacting businesses, individuals and the labor market at large, investors will be eyeing developments in discussions for further fiscal stimulus from Washington. Senate Republicans are expected to release details of their plan in the coming days, after discussions carried on through last week between White House officials and congressional lawmakers.
Republicans last week indicated additional spending would likely be capped at $1 trillion, following the more than $2 trillion included as part of the earlier Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Unless Congress convenes on a new stimulus deal, at the end of this week, measures included in the original CARES Act are set to expire. These include the $600 per week in enhanced federal unemployment benefits to eligible individuals, which Republican lawmakers have balked at but Democratic lawmakers have pushed to extend as joblessness remains rampant across the country.
White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” on Sunday that the new bill will likely offer another round of $1,200 direct checks to Americans under certain income thresholds, along with reemployment bonuses, retention bonuses and tax credits for small businesses. The plan, however, would not renew the full unemployment insurance enhancement that expires at the end of this month, Kudlow said.
“With roughly 31.8 million people having applied for unemployment claims as of July 4, the expiration of FPUC [Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation] benefits this week would cause a roughly 60% or greater decline in income for those who have yet to find employment if Congress does not extend these benefits,” Brett Ryan, senior economist for Deutsche Bank, said in a note. “The opening bid from Senate Republicans this week will be the starting point of the negotiations, which are increasingly likely to stretch into next week. It is therefore possible that we see at least a temporary lapse in FPUC benefits.”
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Here were the main moves at the start of the overnight session for U.S. equity futures, as of 6:09 p.m. ET:
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S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,202.75, down 1.25 points or 0.04%
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Dow futures (YM=F): 26,295.00, down 27 points, or 0.1%
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Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 10,477.25, up 18.25 points, or 0.17%
Traders wearing masks work, on the first day of in person trading since the closure during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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