Chairman and CEO of Bank of America Brian Moynihan joins ‘Barron’s Roundtable’ with reaction and analysis
U.S. stock futures rallied Monday as COVID-19 relief talks progressed on Capitol Hill and Reddit traders turned their attention to a new target.
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Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 253 points, or 0.85%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq Composite futures advanced 1.07% and 1.11%, respectively.
In Washington, President Biden promised to meet with 10 Republican senators, including Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine, to present their plan for a $600 billion COVID-19 relief package.
The plan would cost less than one-third of Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal, which Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., threatened to pass through the reconciliation process, which would require a simple majority as opposed to the 60 votes normally needed to approve legislation.
In markets, silver prices soared to a five-month high Monday morning, up nearly 12% to above $30 an ounce, after traders on the message board site Reddit set their sights on the precious metal. Gold, meanwhile, was fractionally higher at $1,867 an ounce.
The so-called silver squeeze comes as Reddit traders in recent weeks have been banding together to run up the price of stocks that have been under attack from short-sellers, including GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Group.
In deals, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. held merger talks in early 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal, after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the global economy to a standstill and zapped demand for oil and natural gas. A combination between the two companies, which were both descendants of Standard Oil, would be one of the largest mergers ever.
Elsewhere, hydraulics maker Eaton Corp. agreed to buy privately held air-to-air refueling equipment maker Cobham Mission Systems for $2.83 billion, including $130 million in tax benefits.
European markets were higher across the board with Britain’s FTSE 100 trading up 1.17%, France’s CAC 40 advancing 1.34% and Germany’s DAX 30 strengthening by 1.39%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led the gains in Asia, climbing 2.15%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 and China’s Shanghai Composite rallied 1.55% and 0.64%, respectively.
