Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: CNBC
Equity futures rose in overnight trading on Sunday, while investors cheered strong job growth in the US last month amid accelerated vaccine launches.
Dow Jones Industrial Media futures rose 136 points. The S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%.
The Labor Department reported on Friday that non-farm wages rose 916,000 in March, the highest since August 2020, while the unemployment rate fell to 6%. Economists surveyed by the Dow Jones expected an increase of 675,000 and an unemployment rate of 6%.
“This reflects the lifting of restrictions, the increase in vaccinations and the increase in the fiscal incentive,” said Anu Gaggar, a senior investment analyst at the Commonwealth Financial Network. “Faster jobs and rising wages may put upward pressure on prices and test the Fed’s patience with a light monetary policy.”
Wall Street began in April with a strong rally. The S&P 500 jumped more than 1% to exceed the 4,000 mark for the first time on Thursday, bringing its 2021 gains to 7%.
Last week’s highlight came after President Joe Biden unveiled his multimillion-dollar infrastructure proposal, which focuses on rebuilding roads, bridges and airports, expanding broadband access and increasing the use of electric vehicles and upgrading the country’s electricity grid. The plan will be partially funded by a 28% increase in the corporate tax rate.
However, the plan faces opposition among Republicans, as the $ 2 trillion plan includes initiatives that are said to extend beyond traditional infrastructure issues.
Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri on Sunday called on the Biden administration to reduce the package to about $ 615 billion and focus on physical infrastructure, such as roads and airports.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said last week that Biden’s plan would not receive Republican support and vowed to oppose the broader democratic agenda.
On the pandemic front, the US reported another daily record of new Covid vaccinations on Saturday, pushing the weekly average of new vaccines per day to over 3 million.