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* Travel, banks, energy stocks drive earnings before the market
* Futures up: Dow 0.5%, S&P 0.7%, Nasdaq 0.8% (Add comments; update stock prices)
December 28 (Reuters) – Major Wall Street indexes are expected to open near record levels on Monday, while President Donald Trump’s signing of a long-awaited $ 2.3 trillion pandemic aid bill has backed bets on an economic recovery, helping financial and energy stocks.
In a sudden reversal late Sunday, Trump dropped his threat to block the hard-fought bill, restoring unemployment benefits for millions of Americans and avoiding closing down the federal government.
“Trump, who signed the COVID bill to cut government spending and spending, has escaped uncertainty and the market is now on autopilot – heading into the new year,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. .
Trading volumes are expected to be reduced in the last week of the year, with stock markets closing on Friday for the New Year holidays.
The actions of the airlines were among the first winners, as it is expected that the aid for pay will provide some relief to the affected sector. Southwest Airlines, Delta Air, United Airlines and American Airlines increased between 1.5% and 2.8% in premarket trading.
Bank shares, including those of Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs, gained between 0.8% and 1.2%.
Vaccine launches and a series of stimulus measures have put the S&P 500 on the rise by about 15% this year, with some of the biggest boosts coming from the technological weights of Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
However, technology stocks have lost a bit in recent weeks, as less-loved parts of the market, such as energy, the financial sector and small capital, have taken center stage in hopes of an economic recovery. Investors are also assessing their bets on US technology stocks for next year amid expensive valuations and regulatory risks.
At 08:30 AM ET, the S&P 500 E-minis rose 26.5 points, or 0.72%, the Dow E-minis rose 156 points, or 0.51%, and the Nasdaq 100 E-minis rose increased by 104.25 points, or 0.82%.
Democrats in the US Congress will vote on Monday on a proposal for higher pandemic aid payments for Americans, although it seems unlikely to win traction in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Fueling the global risk appetite, Britain and the European Union on Thursday reached a weak post-Brexit trade deal, while the launch of a massive COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Europe over the weekend added optimistic mood.
The US-listed shares of Alibaba Group fell 1.6%, extending Thursday’s loss by 13.34% after China launched an antitrust probe into the company. (Reporting by Devik Jain and Supriya R in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)