Tourists pose with the statue of Wall Street in the Financial District, August 21, 2018 in New York City.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Futures contracts tied to major U.S. stock indices were kept stable in extended trading Wednesday night just hours after the S&P 500 flirted with, but fell just short of, a new record close.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were unchanged, implying an opening move around the flatline when regular trading returned. S&P 500 futures also posted muted trades, while Nasdaq-100 futures indicated a slightly lower opening trade.
The following moves Wednesday night followed a rally during the regular session, with the major indices climbing amid a spike in Big Tech, health care power and gains in discretionary shares.
The S&P 500 won 1.4% during Wednesday’s regular session in its biggest one – day jump since July 6. The broad market index ended the day at 3,380.35. In the last hour of trading, the broader market index traded just above its record close high of 3,386.15.
The index is up every day this month, except for a loss of 0.8% on Tuesday; it has been 3.3% since the end of July.
Consumer houses followed Facebook, Apple and Amazon with 1.4%, 3.3% and 2.6% in Wednesday’s regular trading, while Netflix and Microsoft added 1.8% and 2.8%, respectively.
Shares that benefited the most from the opening of the economy started Wednesday’s session strong, but eventually ended the day with the layers of tech. Cruise operator Carnival dropped by 4%. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup were all lower.
Investors are keeping a close eye on Washington, where the nation’s top legislators continue to talk about a new coronavirus relief package for U.S. households and businesses.
Although Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi both said this week that both sides are far from an agreement, many investors believe a deal is irreversible.
“The market still wants, and very much expects, that an actual incentive letter should be signed,” wrote Tom Essaye, editor of the Sevens Report.
“Going forward, the negotiations on incentive laws will continue, but [President Trump’s] executive orders (combined with recently solid data) are likely to reduce the urgency of getting something done, so realistically the market will look for an agreement in the coming weeks, ”he added.
The latest iteration of Labor’s report on weekly unemployment claims will be released Thursday morning.
The weekly figures give Wall Street critical insight into how many Americans continue to collect unemployment benefits, known as ongoing claims.
Another 1.1 million workers are expected to claim state unemployment benefits for the first time in the week ending August 8. That would mark a retardation from the previous week, although still well above any reading prior to the pre-Covid era.
Last week, the government said initial unemployment claims increased by 1.18 million in the week ending August 1st. That marked the 20th straight week in which initial claims remained above 1 million.
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