US pre-open: Futures mostly higher as Trump extends unemployment relief
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Monday 10 Aug 2020
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were pointing to a mostly positive open ahead of the bell on Monday after Donald Trump signed an executive order extending the nation's Covid-19 unemployment relief programme.
As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.29%, while S&P 500 futures had the index opening 0.07% higher and Nasdaq-100 futures were down 0.02%.
The President's orders to carry on the distribution of expanded benefits will see unemployment payments reduced from $600 a week to $400 and will also continue the deferment of student loan payments through 2020, extend a federal moratorium on evictions and provide a payroll tax holiday.
The move comes after congressional leaders were unable to make any headway on a new Covid-19 stimulus package last week, raising uncertainty about the US economy going forward.
CMC Markets' Michael Hewson said: "US markets look set to take their cues from this morning's decent start for European markets, with a positive open.
"The signing by the President Trump of a number of executive orders to mitigate the loss of the $600 enhanced unemployment benefit appears to have introduced an element of comfort to markets who believe rightly, or wrongly that there will be a longer-term agreement in the coming weeks."
Intensified US-Sino tensions were also in focus, with Beijing announcing unspecified sanctions against 11 US politicians and heads of organisations promoting democratic causes in retaliation to a similar made by the White House last week.
Escalating those tensions further, Chinese jet fighters crossed the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait on Monday as US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar visited the island nation.
On the macro front, JOLTs job openings for June will be released at 1500 BST, while consumer inflation expectations for July will follow at 1600 BST.
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Charles Evans will deliver comments at 2100 BST.
On the corporate front, SeaWorld swung to a wider-than-expected quarterly loss as revenues tumbled 96% due to Covid-19 leading to closures of its theme parks, while the outbreak also led to hotel operator Marriott posting a 84.4% decline in second-quarter revenue per available room.
Royal Caribbean will report later in the day, while Twitter was also in focus as reports circulated that the social media giant was in talks to purchase controversial video group TikTok's US business.
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