Today’s Stock Exchange: Dow, S&P Live Updates January 15, 2021

Asian stocks, US stock futures and Treasury yields retreated on Friday as investors examined President-elect Joe Biden’s highly anticipated Covid-19 relief plan.

With few surprises to catch investors off guard, attention has turned to what part of the package will ultimately be passed by Congress and a reminder that it is looking to raise some taxes. Biden’s proposal includes a wave of new spending, more direct payments to households, increased unemployment benefits, and expanded vaccination and virus testing programs.

S&P 500 futures slipped after weakness in tech and consumer stocks pushed the benchmark down at the end of Thursday’s session. Shares fell in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, although they edged up in Australia. Xiaomi Corp. fell after the Trump administration blacklisted the Chinese smartphone maker for its military ties, as well as China National Offshore Oil Corp.

Elsewhere, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said policymakers will not lift interest rate unless they see worrying signs of inflation. Oil hit a new 10-month high in New York City on stimulus hopes. Bitcoin traded around $ 39,000 as it continued to recover from this week’s rapid drop.

Biden’s “American Rescue Plan ”comes as coronavirus deaths hit record highs and local governments expand lockdowns to stem the spread of the pandemic during the winter months. The proposal also calls for a federal minimum wage of $ 15 and more protections against evictions.

“Looks like it has already been evaluated at least as far as the scale,” said Ilya Spivak, chief Asia-Pacific strategist at DailyFX, referring to Biden’s stimulus package. “The main question is to what extent it is compromised to pass it. This is probably the next layer of speculative uncertainty that the markets are focusing on. Hence the muffled answer.

Investors are wondering how high yields can rise before the rally in risky assets falters. Traders betting on an economic recovery this year tolerate high valuations of stocks, in part because they expect more U.S. tax spending and better control of the pandemic through vaccines.

Powell said the time to raise rates was “not anytime soon” and said policymakers would “let the world know” long before any decision to cut bond purchases. His comments further steepened the yield curve, while break even prices have gone up.

On the virus front, China recorded its first death from Covid-19 since April as new groups continued to grow. France has said it will extend stricter curfew measures across the country in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Here are some key upcoming events:

Here are some of the main movements in the markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% at 11:53 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge lost 0.4% on Thursday.
• Japan’s Topix lost 0.5%.
• Hang Seng rose 0.4%.
• Shanghai Composite climbed 0.5%.
• The South Korean Kospi sank 1%.
• The Australian S & P / ASX 200 index rose 0.3%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index added 0.1%.
• The yen was at 103.76 to the dollar.
• The offshore yuan held at 6.4651 to the dollar.
• The euro bought $ 1.2156.

Obligations

• The yield on 10-year Treasury bills fell to 1.11%.
• Australia’s 10-year yield slipped to 1.09%.

Basic products

• West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $ 53.57 per barrel.
• Gold was at $ 1,852.23 an ounce, up 0.3%.

– With the help of Dave Liedtka, Kamaron Leach and Claire Ballentine