Elections in Georgia, Alibaba, China, Trump: 5 things to know

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Here are five things you need to know for Wednesday, January 6:

1. – Stock Futures Mixed As Wall Street Bets Democrats Win Senate

Stock futures were mixed on Wednesday as investors bet Democrats could win the US Senate and tensions between the US and China rose again.

Democratic Rev. Raphael Warnock defeated Senator Kelly Loeffler in Georgia, winning one of two rounds of the Senate in the state. His victory puts the Senate majority within the reach of the Democratic Party.

The race between Republican Senator David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff remains too early to be called as the votes were still being counted, according to the Associated Press.

Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 106 points and S&P 500 futures fell 6 points. Futures on the Nasdaq fell 234 points, or 1.83%, amid concerns that big tech companies could face tougher antitrust scrutiny under a Democrat-controlled Congress.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bill hit 1% for the first time since March.

Elections in Georgia will determine whether Democrats take control of Congress and allow them to advance President-elect Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.

A shift to Democrats could lead to more fiscal stimulus and higher taxes. A single Republican victory would give the GOP enough voice to prevent Biden from pursuing his more ambitious trade, energy and security policies, analysts said.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps, including Ant Group Alipay. China on Wednesday accused the United States of abusing its powers, saying its actions only hurt American consumers.

2. – Wednesday economic calendar

The U.S. economic calendar on Wednesday includes the ADP national employment report for December at 8:15 a.m. ET, the composite PMI final for December at 9:45 a.m., factory orders for November at 10 a.m., oil inventories for the week ended Jan. 1 at 10:30 a.m. and Federal Reserve meeting report Dec. 15-16 at 2 p.m.

Income reports will be released Wednesday by Simply Good Foods (SMPL) – Get the report, Greenbrier Cos. (GBX) – Get the report and MSC Industrial Direct (MSM) – Get the report.

3. – Alibaba plans to sell $ 5 billion bonds

Ali Baba (BABA) – Get the report plans to raise at least $ 5 billion from the sale of a US dollar-denominated bond this month, Reuters reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The proceeds of the offer could reach $ 8 billion depending on the response from investors, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The business would likely use the funds for general business expenses.

The offer would come as part of increased regulatory scrutiny of Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma’s empire by Chinese authorities.

Ma, who has not been seen or heard since November, drew the ire of Chinese President Xi Jinping with a speech in October that attacked the government’s role in dampening creativity and innovation in the technology sector. Since then, government officials have launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba and crushed the initial public offering plans of its online banking subsidiary, Ant Group.

CNBC reported on Tuesday that Ma was not “missing” in the sense that his location was unknown, but was rather “lying low” in terms of his public appearances in the hope that he could overcome the current government’s backlash. .

Alibaba’s U.S. certificates of deposit were down 1.71% in pre-market trading on Wednesday at $ 234.

4.- NYSE May Reverse Tide Against China Telecom Company Cutoffs

The New York Stock Exchange is considering reversing a second time to delist three major Chinese telecommunications companies after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin criticized the surprise decision by the NYSE to grant a stay of business, Bloomberg reported, citing three people familiar with the subject.

The NYSE’s decision to keep the lists came as a surprise and caused confusion among officials at the U.S. Treasury and State Departments, as well as the National Security Council. The NYSE overthrow also sparked an exasperation that reached the highest levels of the Trump administration, Bloomberg reported.

Last week, the NYSE said it would cut the shares to comply with a U.S. government order signed by President Trump that bans investments in 35 companies owned or controlled by the Chinese military. But on Monday, the Big Board said in a statement “that it no longer intends to go ahead with the delisting action” after “consulting the relevant regulatory authorities.”

But on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that the exchange may eventually proceed with write-offs.

China Mobile (CHL) – Get the report, China Telecom (NO) – Get the report and China Unicom (CHU) – Get the report lost more than $ 30 billion in market value in the final weeks of 2020 as investors sold the shares in the wake of Trump’s order. They paid up to $ 12 billion more as their U.S. certificates of deposit fell on Monday following the NYSE decision to write them off. Prices rose on Tuesday after the NYSE rescinded the delisting, and fell again after the Bloomberg story broke.

5. – Apple CEO Tim Cook Gets Big Salary Raise for 2020

Apple (AAPL) – Get the report CEO Tim Cook saw his cash bonus increase 40% last year to $ 10.7 million after the tech giant exceeded its internal financial targets for the last fiscal year.

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