Wall Street Stumbles as Stimulus Doubts Resurface
While lawmakers did manage to agree to pass a one-week government funding extension, which will prevent a government shutdown until at least another week, the S&P fell for the third day in a row over doubts of another stimulus relief package.
Stocks were under pressure over stimulus relief and vaccine news to support an economy battered by the lockdown.
This week had an influx of conflicting messages about the progress of another relief bill.
With unemployment reports increasing again and new business restrictions in many US states, investors and Americans are counting on another stimulus legislation to sustain the economy as an alarming set of benefits are set to expire on Dec. 31st.
According to The Telegram, “For the week, the Dow lost 0.57%, the S&P 500 shed 0.96% and the Nasdaq lost 0.69%. The declines for the S&P and Nasdaq marked their biggest weekly declines since the end of October.”
Despite optimism over a vaccine, the conflicting news over another stimulus has left investors on edge.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after showing optimism that an agreement is near these last few weeks, spoke on Thursday explaining negotiations might be continuing until Christmas.
Then on Friday New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order to suspend indoor dining in New York to be effective on Monday.
“Nine of the 11 major S&P indexes were down in morning trading, with energy and financials among the biggest decliners on profit-taking in economically sensitive sectors, that have risen sharply recently on vaccine optimism, “ stated KSL.com
The communication services index remained a bright stop with Disney surging 13.58% after the company announced a large number of new shows expected within the next few years.
The company even announced they expect about 350 million more subscribers by the end of 2024.
Financial, energy, and industrial sectors all saw red this past week as an influx of new continued to worry investors.
Because is it too unclear of the week ahead in terms of the vaccine and for stimulus negotiations, this last week saw an influx of reports and news that led to another drop.
CFRA Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall said, “Investors are wondering what is it that Congress needs to hear before they decide to act. Their focus is more on politics than it is on the American economy.”
With almost 3,000 US deaths and the US only adding 245,00 jobs for November than the 610,000 jobs added in October, it pulls into question what this next week will bring in terms of another stimulus.
Investors and unemployed Americans rely heavily on this next stimulus package and the details that it contains.
Sources:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-stocks-wall-st-set-133943191.html