After an early drop to the negative territory, US stocks eventually recovered, and two of the three leading US stock indices ended the Wednesday
session in the green. As such, we saw two consecutive-day gains in the US stocks for the first time since the coronavirus-led freefall began.
The S&P500 (+1.15%) consolidated gains following the US Congress’ agreement on a historical $2-trillion rescue package, while the
Dow rallied 2.39% boosted by a 24.32% jump in Boeing’s share price - on hope that there could be something in the mix for the company struggling
on the verge of financial distress, and 10.87% and 9.24% jump in United Tech and Nike Inc.
Tech stocks lagged. Apple (-0.55%), Microsoft
(-0.96%), Cisco (-2.41%) and Intel (-2.18%) fell. Nasdaq retreated 0.45%.
The US dollar index retraced below the 101 mark hinting at an
improved risk appetite in the global cross-asset markets.
But there is a hitch: the approval of the colossal fiscal package by the House of
Representatives could be delayed due to controversies over low-wage workers’ benefits. It is useless to highlight that low-revenue
households and businesses are the most vulnerable faced with a forced shutdown as we experience today. Hence in opposition to previous
financial crisis, the recovery should be built from the bottom to the top this time. For investors, a delay in approval would again threaten
the appetite and jeopardize the recent gains posted across stock and credit markets.
Asian markets posted a mixed picture, with better
appetite in Sydney (+2.31%), timid losses in Shanghai (-0.60%) but a 4.51% drop in Tokyo.
Activity in FTSE (-2.54%) and DAX (-2.42%) futures hint
that the rally may stall in Europe, as well.
WTI crude consolidated near the $25 a barrel, posting a timid advance despite a
smaller-than-expected increase of 1.6-million barrels in US oil inventories last week, compared to 2.9 million penciled in by analysts
and 2 million printed a week earlier.
By Ipek Ozkardeskaya
