Two 59%+ winners, four above 25% in Aug – How this AI model keeps picking winners
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* Futures up: Dow 0.30%, S&P 0.36%, Nasdaq 0.38%
By Devik Jain
Dec 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on
Wednesday as investors focused on prospects of a gradual
vaccine-led economic recovery next year and more monetary and
fiscal support.
Lifting sentiment was Britain's approval of the emergency
use of AstraZeneca AZN.L and Oxford University's COVID-19
vaccine after the main U.S. indexes slipped from intraday record
highs on Tuesday on uncertainty over bigger stimulus checks.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a quick vote
to back President Donald Trump's call to increase COVID-19
relief checks to $2,000 from $600 on Tuesday. "The market is of the view that U.S. households will receive
additional support a few months down the line even if the
government decides to pull back higher stimulus checks," said
Piotr Matys, FX strategist at Rabobank.
At 07:04 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 91 points, or
0.3%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 13.25 points, or 0.36%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 49 points, or 0.38%.
Meanwhile, the first known U.S. case of a highly infectious
coronavirus variant discovered in Britain was detected in
Colorado. Scientists believe the new variant is more contagious
than previously identified strains of the SAR-CoV-2 variant but
no more severe in the symptoms it causes. To date, the pandemic has infected more than 19 million
people and killed over 334,000 in the United States.
Trading is expected to remain light in the holiday-shortened
week, which could boost volatility in the market.
The benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX , which has bounced back
nearly 70% from its late-March trough, is on course to end the
month with a 3% gain after a 10.8% rally in November.
Technology mega-caps such as Apple Inc AAPL.O and
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O powered much of this year's gains but
have taken a backseat in recent weeks as investors shifted to
economically-sensitive sectors on cheaper valuations and hopes
of an eventual recovery.