U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia says President Trump’s executive orders on unemployment benefits were done to find a way to get extra support for Americans who are out of work.
US equity futures traded with gains before the start of the session on Wednesday on Wall Street.
The parade of retail revenue remains ahead of the opening clock with results from Lowe’s, Target and TJX Cos.
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Japanese Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3% to 23.121.32 after the country reported that its exports fell 19% in July from a year earlier, better than expected and an improvement over a 26.2% decline in June.
JAPAN’S INFORMATION PLAYS AMID KRUS OF CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
There was a nearly 21% decline in exports to the US which was much better than the 50.6% drop in May.
Concerns about trade tensions between the US and China, which threaten to further restrict trade between the two nations, lifted the Shanghai Composite Army by 1.2%.
Markets in Hong Kong were closed due to a tropical storm.
In Europe, London’s FTSE is down 0.2%, Germany’s DAX is down 0.3% and France’s CAC is down 0.3%.
In Tuesday’s trade, the S&P 500 grabbed 0.2% to 3,389.78, and its previous record closed high of 3,386.15. It was instituted on Feb. 19, before the pandemic shut down companies around the world and hit economies in their worst recessions in decades.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me: DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGE | 27778.07 | -66.84 | -0.24% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3389.78 | +7.79 | + 0.23% |
| I: COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 11210.843358 | +81.12 | + 0.73% |
The milestone of the S&P 500 has a fierce, 51.5% rally that began in early March.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2% to 27,778.07 and is still 6% below its February record. The Nasdaq Composition was already back to a record, thanks to enormous gains for the major tech stocks that dominate it. It hit a new high Tuesday, climbing 0.7%, to 11,210.84.
Investors are still waiting to see if Congress and the White House can reconcile their differences and agree on more help that analysts say is needed to sustain the recovery that investors have adopted along the way. That assumption is an enormous reason that the stock market is as high as it is.
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In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude for delivery in September lost 32 cents to $ 42.57 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was unchanged Tuesday at $ 42.89 per barrel.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
