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U.S. equity futures edged up Wednesday evening as investors awaited news on stimulus talks and the vaccine approval process.
Futures contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30 points, or 0.1%. Those of the highly technological S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose by 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.
The move in futures comes after a relatively quiet day on Wall Street, as investors monitored developments in Washington over a possible stimulus bill. In Wednesday’s session, the Dow and S&P 500 gained 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%. The slight upward movement for the S&P 500 resulted in a new high.
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement calling on Republicans to work with them on another round of Covid relief funding, using a proposal bipartisan Senate moderates as a starting point.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected the $ 908 billion proposal after it was released on Tuesday, and the Kentucky Republican has repeatedly said he believes the next round of stimulus should be more small at around $ 500 billion.
“I don’t think anyone should rely on this stimulus, and I think the savvy investor says, ‘Well that would be nice if that happened, but let’s not count on it,’ portfolio manager Joanne Feeney of Advisors Capital Management says on “Closing Bell.”
Also on Wednesday, the UK became the first country to grant emergency approval for Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine. U.S. regulators are expected to make decisions on this vaccine and a similar vaccine from Moderna later this month, which may allow distribution to begin before the start of 2021.
Still, the vaccine’s rollout is expected to take many months, with drug companies ramping up production for the world’s population, with many health experts warning of a harsh winter in the United States. The country has seen more than 272,000 deaths attributed to the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
On Wednesday evening, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill that would require Chinese companies to adhere to U.S. auditing standards if they wanted their shares to be listed on the U.S. stock exchange. The bill now goes to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law.
The first claims data on Thursday will give investors a final read on the labor market ahead of Friday’s major jobs report. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect 780,000 new jobless claims, roughly unchanged from the previous week.
Investors will also be keeping an eye on the bond market, where the benchmark 10-year T-bill yield has flirted with the 1% level in recent days.
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