A surge of holiday cheer boosts stock market.
As is customary, Wall Street will close early today at 1 PM Eastern time ahead of the Christmas holiday and will remain closed on Friday. The stock indexes saw some last-minute gains fueled by positive holiday sentiments and advancements in economic stimulus.
The Dow Jones index gained 60 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes each rose by 0.2%. The technology sector showed the highest performance this morning with a general increase of 0.7%. The Nasdaq index is expected to end the year leading the pack with a total gain of about 42%.
Despite these advancements, concerns arose due to the conflict between Congress and the President. Recently, after Congress passed a new stimulus bill earlier in the week, President Donald Trump raised objections, proposing an increase in the $600 stimulus payments for US citizens to $2000. While House Democrats agreed and moved to amend the bill, the GOP opposed the change.
JUST IN: House Republicans have rejected a measure that would increase direct payments to Americans to $2,000, leaving the future of the $900 billion stimulus package in doubt https://t.co/zcBZe3k3dv
— CNN (@CNN) December 24, 2020
Even if President Trump decides to veto the bill, the Senate could potentially override his decision, easing concerns for some investors. Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge stated that, “Markets don’t care too much about Trump’s criticism of the stimulus bill as a formal veto is considered unlikely, [and] the joint stimulus/budget legislation passed both the House and Senate with veto-proof majorities. Even if Trump were to successfully veto the measure, Biden will be president in only 27 days and can sign it then.”
