US futures fell on Friday as some investors became worried that President-elect Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 aid plan could lead to higher taxes.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.3%, indicating that the benchmark will fall for the next day. Contracts related to the Nasdaq-100 fell by less than 0.1%, and those related to the Dow Jones industrial average fell by 0.3%.
The S&P 500 is set to end the week below, erasing some of the gains made in early January, when the track reached a record high. Markets have for weeks encouraged Democrats’ plans to expand government spending and boost economic recovery. But the size of Mr Biden’s plans, set out late Thursday, served to testify to some of that optimism.
“Obviously, the magnitude has been surprising in terms of growth,” said Wei Li, head of investment strategy for the fund traded by BlackRock and investments in indices for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “With a majority in the Senate, [taxes] could come in the medium term and this must also be assessed by the market. ”
Investors hope the additional spending will help drive the US economy through a winter that has seen high rates of Covid-19 infection and worsening economic data. Figures released on Thursday showed that the number of workers claiming unemployment benefits saw the biggest weekly gain since the pandemic hit in March last year.