Shares fell on Friday when President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a $ 1.9 trillion aid package to Covid-19, banks fell after the earnings season began, and U.S. retail sales were weaker than expected. wait.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 359 points, or 1.16%, to 30,632, the S&P 500 fell 1.1% and the Nasdaq fell 1.06%. The shares collapsed in the last trading hour on Thursday. The Dow and Nasdaq had set records during the day during the session.
Biden’s “American rescue plan” includes $ 1,400 checks for individuals, in addition to the $ 600 provided in the latest aid bill. Other elements of the plan include extending the additional unemployment payments and a moratorium on forced evictions and executions until September.
The president-elect’s plan also provides funding for the vaccine to help fight the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 389,000 Americans since Thursday.
The size of the aid package, as well as the potential for tax increases, has many concerns on Wall Street, Biden may not gain support in Congress for his proposals.
“To some extent, most of this optimism had been assessed, but the huge figures also called for some contemplation on whether the necessary bipartisan support would materialize for this huge amount,” said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist based in Singapore for IG.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) – Get the report, Fargo Fountains (WFC) – Get the report and Citigroup (C) – Get the report fell on Friday after major banks reported fourth-quarter earnings.
JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, posted much stronger earnings than expected in the fourth quarter, as bank profit from investment increased and the company posted a profit of $ 1.9 billion from its investment provisions. previous credit.
“While positive developments in vaccines and incentives have contributed to these versions of reserves this quarter, our credit reserves of over $ 30 billion continue to reflect significant short-term economic uncertainties and will allow us to withstand a much more economic environment. worse than the current basic forecasts of most economists, “said CEO Jamie Dimon in a statement.
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are owned by Jim Cramer’s PLUS club member action alerts. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells shares? Learn more now.
U.S. retail sales fell for the second month in a row in December, the Commerce Department said Friday, as consumers withdrew holiday spending amid rising pandemic job losses.