Daily summary: US stocks reverse gains amid stimulus uncertainties

European indices finished today's session mostly higher, as investors welcomed news from Reuters that Poland and Hungary have provisionally accepted a European Union budget proposal from the bloc's German presidency and are now awaiting further approval from other member states, ahead of a highly anticipated EU summit on Thursday. Tomorrow market attention will focus on ECB policy meeting, as policymakers are expected to announce fresh round of monetary stimulus. On the Brexit front, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to head over to Brussels later today and meet with European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, at 1900 GMT. On the coronavirus front, Germany reported 590 fatalities today, the highest daily increase since the pandemic began despite the fact the country had been under a partial lockdown since November. State of Saxony will close all non-essential shops from next week. Elsewhere, UK reported 599 new deaths yesterday, and France and Italy reporting 831 and 634 fatalities, respectively. DAX 30 rose 0.5%, CAC40 fell 0.2% and FTSE 100 finished 0.3% higher.

 

US stocks are trading lower as investors digested optimism around COVID-19 vaccine developments and the prospect of additional fiscal stimulus in the US. The Dow Jones fell 0.09%, S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and Nasdaq pulled back by 0.6%. FDA announced  Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine “met the prescribed success criteria” clearing it for emergency use approval. Meanwhile number of new infections in the US surpassed 209k yesterday, the fourth highest on record. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin presented a $916 billion coronavirus relief proposal, in another effort to reach a deal however Democrats rejected the offer as it included only $ 40 billion in unemployment benefits, an amount that Democratic leaders found to be far too low. Dow Jones and S&P500 gave back their gains after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Politico that Republicans and Democrats were “still looking for a way forward” on additional fiscal aid.

US crude futures are trading 0.2% lower at $ 45.57 a barrel, while Brent contract fell more than 0.6% to $ 48.81 in volatile session after EIA report showed a surprise increase in US crude inventories of 15.189 million barrels in the previous week, which was the largest increase since a record seen in April. Elsewhere, gold futures fell more than 1.6% to $ 1,840.71 / oz, while silver dropped over 2.2% to $ 24.00/oz.