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Stimulus Passed; GDP, API Due; Apple Cars - What's up in Markets

Published 12/22/2020, 06:34 AM
Updated 12/22/2020, 06:37 AM
© Reuters

© Reuters

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com -- Congress has sent the stimulus bill to President Trump for signing. The U.S. will release revised GDP data for the third quarter (the U.K. revised its data up sharply overnight). Apple is back in the self-driving car business and oil faces a test with the first of two weekly reports on U.S. inventories. Here’s what you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, December 22nd.

1 Senate sends stimulus bill to Trump

The U.S. Congress passed the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill, sending it to President Donald Trump for its signature into law.

In addition, the Senate also passed a $1.4 trillion spending bill that will keep the government funded through September.

President-elect Joe Biden signaled he will push for a new support package as soon as he is sworn in. Lawmakers on both sides acknowledged the shortcomings of the deal, which leaves unanswered big questions about the funding for local governments and the potential liability of businesses whose employees catch the coronavirus.

2 GDP revisions in U.S. and U.K.

The relatively empty data calendar will allow revised third-quarter data for gross domestic product at 8:30 AM ET (1330 GMT) to grab more attention than they might otherwise attract. 

The headline annualized growth number is more likely to be revised up than down from the initial reading of 33.1%, if recent experience is any guide, but the data have now largely been overtaken by new realities in any case.  

Analysts are focusing on the core personal consumer expenditures, which provide a more accurate reflection of experienced inflation in the current circumstances, because it adjusts for short-term changes to spending patterns.  The first reading had this index up 3.5% on the year, well above the official inflation rate. Separately, existing home sales data are also due at 10 AM ET.

Overnight, the U.K. revised up its third-quarter numbers to show a quarter-on-quarter rebound of 16%, which still left output down 8.6% on the year.

3 Stocks set to open mixed

U.S. stock markets are set to open mixed after a surprisingly resilient performance on Monday, when the sight of the country’s banks gearing up to resume stock buybacks calmed fears about a fresh surge in the pandemic from the new strain of Covid-19 virus detected in Europe and Africa.

By 6:40 AM ET (1140 GMT), Dow Jones futures were down 37 points, or 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures were up 0.1% and NASDAQ futures were up 0.4%.

Stocks likely to be in focus later may include Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), after fresh revelations about the extent of their cooperation in the online advertising market that the two have come to dominate. Traders will also be looking at whether SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI) stock can build on its 13% bounce on Monday, after a 40% drop in response to news about a devastating hack on U.S. government agencies that exploited weaknesses in its system.

4 Apple revives self-driving car project

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has revived its plans to build and market self-driving cars and is targeting a product launch in 2024, Reuters reported overnight.

The company had eased off on its so-called Project Titan after seeing the problems encountered by others such as Uber (NYSE:UBER) and Google, and laid off nearly 200 people on the project last year. However, Reuters reported that its designs have advanced to a point where it can plan on hitting the mass market in a little over three years. It cited a new battery design that could "radically" reduce the cost of batteries and increase the vehicle's range.

It isn’t clear how Apple would approach the task of mass manufacturing. It has traditionally outsourced that process for products as the iPhone, but there is no precedent for it among the world’s main automakers.

5 Oil edges lower; API data due

Crude oil prices edged down again in quieter trade overnight, after a bruising drop on Monday in response to fears that the discovery of a new strain of Covid-19 virus could lead to wider and longer lockdowns in the new year.

By 6:40 AM ET, U.S. crude futures were down 0.9% at $47.58 a barrel, while Brent futures were down 0.6% at $50.61.

The U.K. and France are still negotiating over how and when to reopen the Channel Tunnel, a vital artery for trade, which was closed on Sunday night as part of a general ban on arrivals from the U.K. The closure threatens to cause shortages of fresh food in the U.K. – a big net importer – if not quickly addressed.

Later in the session, the American Petroleum Institute will report its weekly assessment of U.S. oil inventories.

Latest comments

stimulus passed
Apple's going to be wonderful
apple cars, banana boats, and tangerine tanks. I don't care for iPhones and certainly wont care for a car made by a company that has no expertise in building cars that has to outsource all manufacturing. all apple is doing is hiring engineers and creating a division to try and build cars. that doesn't make them a formidable competitor to Tesla.
Self-drive cars will not work. It's not what people want.
It may fly in 20 years, but not in 2024. Flying cars may be a reality by then. hopefully I will be retired and living to see it all.
where is thom this morning to tell us how great Biden is and how bad trump is?
he doesnt need to be here its a well known fact by now
Apple cars? A boring dystopia. Just sad what the world is becoming. Capitalism and growth have come to an end.
Biden will never be president. The US dont want the CCP in power. Biden does NOT reflect the will of the majority of the US population. 80 mil votes winning 4xx counties vs 75 million from Trump that won 27xx counties, and Obama's 69 mil winning 8xx counties. Trump and Obama were filling entire stadiums and arenas. Biden was filling his basement. Totally believable.
Whats totally unbelievable is as the pandemic and suffering continues on, trump is in his WH Bunker planning the next move to overthrow the elections while totally disregarding his oath and the performance of his duties. Yeah, trump is something special alright.
It is Biden who is trying to overthrow the election. Dont get yourself confused kid.
Whats totally unbelievable is as the pandemic and suffering rages on, trump is in his WH Bunker planning the next move to overthrow the elections while totally disregarding his oath of office and the performance of his duties. Yeah, trump is something special alright.
Print more money mr.Biden and make America weak again. Let China ******** us all and get away from consequences.
Annualised growth per quarter in this climate is naîve to say the least.
Crash/Profit Taking is incoming. The stimulus doesn't change the fact that this new strain of Covid spreads faster and is as disruptive as the first strain originating from China. Welcome to the denial stage of the market.
profit taking will be lethal with filters onn
oil has been piling up in reserve. I don't see an oil rally over the next year.
Print more money!! The easy way to all become millionaire
I hope that my stocks will up without stop and you)))
Amazing!!!Mr.Biden
You are right, make china great again, mr biden...what a joke.
or downplay russia hack pick ur poisin.
Ask to hunter biden...and the big guy, 47 years of experience doing nothing except corruption.
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