Markets soar despite chaos in Washington: live business updates

• Wall Street looked poised to rise Thursday despite the chaos in Washington the previous day, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol building, forcing lawmakers into hiding and sparking international outrage and concern.

• S&P 500 futures indicate gains when trading begins on Wall Street later Thursday morning. European stock indices were moderately higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 up 0.2% and the German DAX index up 0.4%. Most Asian indices closed higher.

• Even as scenes of firearms fired in the halls of Congress unfolded on Wednesday afternoon, the S&P 500 was able to hold on to its gains, closing 0.6% higher. All in all, this was another example of the stock markets seeming out of touch – seeing last year’s double-digit gains on Wall Street as a pandemic choked global economies.

• The Senate and House voted early Thursday to certify Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

• Democratic oversight of the US Senate – made possible by the results of two polls in Georgia this week – should make it easier for Biden to pass stimulus measures to support the economy. Investors are also banking on the deployment of coronavirus vaccines to ultimately boost commercial activity that was dormant during the pandemic.

• “Markets have paid very little attention to the tumultuous behavior in Washington,” ING analysts wrote in a note. Instead, investors maintained an interest in riskier assets, such as stocks, sparked by the Democrats’ success in Georgia.

• Yields on Treasuries continued to rise, boosted by expectations that additional budgetary spending in Washington will generate more bond issuance, reaching as high as 1.06% on 10-year notes. The yield climbed above 1 percent this week for the first time since March.

• Goldman Sachs economists said they expected Democrats to pass $ 750 billion in fiscal stimulus in the first quarter of the year, now that they control the Senate. The US investment bank also raised its forecast for economic growth this year to 6.4% from 5.9%.

• Oil held steady at an 11-month high, after Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it would cut oil production. The US crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate, up 0.6% for the day, hit $ 51.28 a barrel before slipping a bit, while Brent hit $ 54.90.

When Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, released a statement on Wednesday condemning the violence in Washington, he urged “our elected leaders” to call for an end to it. He did not directly mention President Trump.

Neither Charles Scharf, managing director of Wells Fargo (“Behavior in Washington, DC, today is unacceptable”) nor the executives of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America or Citigroup. Business leaders and organizations have often referred to “leaders” or called for “a peaceful transition of power” to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Business leaders have rarely criticized Mr. Trump directly. When he announced shortly before his inauguration that Stephen K. Bannon would be his chief White House strategist, Democrats on Congressional committees that oversee the financial sector asked industry executives to publicly oppose this appointment. Lawmakers called Mr Bannon a “bigot beloved of white supremacists” and said business leaders have “a moral obligation to speak out.”

None did.

After Mr. Trump took office, CEOs found themselves in the awkward position of deciding to participate in so-called business advisory councils, common forums for business leaders to influence policy. of a new president, even as he was deploying policies. many saw it as hateful. Several of these councils were dissolved after Mr. Trump refused in 2017 to condemn white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va., And said there were “very good people” and “blame” “both sides ”.

With the president’s growing efforts to subvert the election, organizations have become more daring. On Monday, for example, 170 business leaders signed their names on a statement, organized by the business advocacy organization Partnership for New York, urging Congress to certify the outcome of the presidential election, though some prominent members have been reported missing.

As a crowd stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, organizations not known for their vocal statements no longer seemed to worry about the political ramifications of Mr. Trump’s denunciation.

The High Frequency Economics research group suspended the regular publication of its research notes for the first time since the September 11, 2001 attacks and sent a note to its clients: “We at High Frequency Economics are disgusted by the role of President of the United States by inciting this riot, and we are saddened that he cannot find the character to stand up in front of the crowd he has created, quell the violence, and send everyone home.

And the Business Roundtable, a group of chief executives, including Mr. Dimon, from some of the country’s largest companies, was blunt about the cause of the violence.

“The chaos unfolding in the nation’s capital is the result of illegal efforts to overturn the legitimate results of a democratic election,” the group said. “The country deserves better. Business Roundtable calls on the president and all relevant officials to end the chaos and facilitate the peaceful transition of power.

The Labor Department is expected to provide further evidence on the extent of unemployment across the country on Thursday morning when it releases its weekly report on jobless claims.

Initial claims for benefits have remained at levels not seen in previous recessions, and analysts polled by Bloomberg expect an increase from last week’s report.

“Google search trends show an upward trend in terms of ‘unemployment record’ that has continued this week,” said Julia Pollak, labor economist at online jobs site ZipRecruiter.

“The virus is still spreading, hospitalizations have reached a new record and there is a decline in demand for some services,” Pollak said. “Many orders and stay-at-home restrictions lead to further decline. You see a drop all over the restaurant data. “

Before adjustments for seasonal variations, new claims for state unemployment benefits were above 800,000 in each of the last four weekly reports.

The job market has improved since the coronavirus pandemic broke out and shut down the economy. But of the more than 22 million jobs that disappeared in the spring, 10 million remain lost.

“Employers are very cautious about rehiring at the same time as they have had to increase layoffs,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief US financial economist at Oxford Economics. “The resurgence of the virus is really the main culprit here.”

“It is interesting to note that since August the gains in the wage bill have gradually declined,” said Bostjancic.

With a recently enacted $ 900 billion relief package that includes an extension of federal unemployment benefits, most unemployed people can at least hope for additional financial assistance.

A fuller picture of December jobs will come on Friday when the Labor Department releases its monthly jobs report, and most analysts expect minor payroll gains – or even the first net loss since. April.