published on 12/28/2020 at 3:00 p.m.
Photo credit © Reuters
(Boursier.com) – The US rating is expected to rise to historic highs before market on Monday, with vaccinations against the coronavirus, the Brexit agreement and the US stimulus plan. Note also that according to the Wall Street Journal, US sales over the holiday season have increased by 2.4% year-on-year. The S&P 500 takes 0.5% and the DJIA 0.7%, while the Nasdaq climbs 0.6%. A barrel of WTI crude gained 0.4% to $ 48.4. Brent is trading at $ 51.5. The ounce of gold stabilizes at $ 1,891. The dollar index fell 0.1% against a basket of benchmark currencies.
After North America and the United Kingdom, the European Union in turn yesterday launched vaccinations as part of an unprecedented cross-border campaign intended to contain the pandemic. The campaign is initially focused on the elderly and nursing staff. In France, a 78-year-old woman was the first to be vaccinated at René-Muret hospital in Sevran, in Seine-Saint-Denis. Mauricette said she was very moved after the injection. In Italy, a 29-year-old nurse is one of three medical staff to receive the first injection of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the green light to the use of the vaccine last Monday …
AstraZeneca and Oxford are also eagerly awaited. Regulators need time to study data on the Covid vaccine from the University of Oxford and the AstraZeneca laboratory, the UK Department of Health said on Sunday in response to information from the Sunday Telegraph that the vaccine would be distributed from January 4.
According to Johns Hopkins University on Monday, the number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus since the start of the epidemic is now nearly 81 million worldwide, including 19.1 million in the United States, 10.2 million in India and 7.5 million in Brazil. Russia has more than 3 million cases. The virus has killed 1.77 million people worldwide since its emergence, including more than 333,000 in the United States.
On the Brexit deal, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the last minute deal with the European Union as a “huge” free trade agreement in line with the one in force between the EU and the Canada. Britain released the text of the agreement with the European Union on Saturday, five days before its official exit from the bloc. The agreement includes a 1,246-page trade agreement and provisions on nuclear energy and on the exchange of classified information as well as joint declarations. The EU and the UK reached an agreement on their future trade relations on Thursday, more than four years after the 2016 referendum in which the British voted for Brexit. The agreement therefore makes it possible to avoid a chaotic exit …
Trump, for his part, yesterday ratified a $ 2.3 trillion plan, restoring unemployment benefits to millions of Americans and thus avoiding the closure of federal administrations. The outgoing president, who will cede power to Joe Biden on January 20, has therefore reversed his decision to block the program adopted last week by Congress after being under pressure from parliamentarians.
The package includes $ 900 billion in aid under legislation to support the coronavirus, as well as $ 1.4 trillion to continue government funding until September.
The president asked that direct aid to families in difficulty be increased from 600 to 2,000 dollars. Democrats have proposed increasing direct aid to Americans to $ 2,000 as part of the economic stimulus package, responding to one of Trump’s demands. But the Republicans rejected the proposal deemed too expensive. Many Republicans refused to go back on a proposal they had already voted on … Ratifying the stimulus package, Trump claimed to have sent a strong message that shows Congress that the unreasonable points must be removed …
Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thanked Trump for ratifying the plan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the president must now call on Republicans in Congress to follow his lead and support a rise in the amount of checks to $ 2,000 …
On the economic front, news is very limited today. The preliminary figures for Japanese industrial production were stable, against an expected increase of 1.4% for the month of November. The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for December will be released at 4:30 p.m. (consensus 5).
Tomorrow Tuesday, the day will not be much busier, with only the S&P Case-Shiller index of US house prices for October.
Values
Walmart, Target and other US retailers are being watched on this day. The Wall Street Journal reports an increase in consumption of 2.4% over the holiday season. A Mastercard study estimates the increase in retail sales in the United States at 3% over the period from October 11 to December 24, with strong growth in online commerce.
Myovant announces a partnership with the pharmaceutical colossus Pfizer for the development and commercialization in Canada and the United States of an experimental treatment for oncology and uterine fibroids.
Pfizer, postponed for 24 hours the delivery to Spain of a new batch of its vaccine against covid due to certain logistical difficulties, announced the Spanish Minister of Health, Salvador Illa. In addition, a spokeswoman for the European Commission announced that the distribution of the 200 million doses of the vaccine initially ordered would be completed by September.
Tesla, new entrant of the S&P 500, will launch on the Indian market at the beginning of next year, indicated on Monday the local minister of transport to the daily Indian Express. The Californian designer of electric vehicles should start with the marketing of vehicles before considering assembly and manufacture in the country according to demand.
Alibaba. The People’s Bank of China has asked payments giant Ant Group, a subsidiary of Alibaba, to overhaul its lending business to comply with several regulatory requirements. At the same time, the group has strengthened its share buyback program to 10 billion dollars.
Boeing. An Air Canada 737 MAX en route to Montreal from Arizona with three crew members aboard was forced to divert due to an engine problem, according to the airline.
Home Depot completed the acquisition of HD Supply Holdings for a total enterprise value, including net cash, of approximately $ 8 billion. The acquisition agreement was announced on November 16, 2020.
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