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Stocks Move Higher As Stimulus Talks Make Progress

By:
Vladimir Zernov
Published: Dec 15, 2020, 13:41 UTC

Traders hope that U.S. lawmakers will reach a compromise deal before Christmas.

U.S. Stock Market

In this article:

Stimulus Hopes Push Stocks Higher

S&P 500 futures are moving higher in premarket trading as traders are optimistic on the current stimulus talks.

It looks like negotiations between Republicans and Democrats are progressing well, and there’s a chance that a new coronavirus aid package will be approved before Christmas.

Tomorrow, the U.S. Fed will announce its Interest Rate Decision. The rate is expected to stay unchanged so traders will focus on Fed’s commentary.

The Fed may decide to increase purchases of long-dated bonds in order to put pressure on their yields which will be bullish for stocks.

Big Tech May Face Fines Of Up To 10% In EU

EU is expected to unveil new rules which will limit the power of tech giants like Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet.

Big Tech companies may face fines of up to 10% of annual turnover if they fail to comply with new rules which deal with antitrust concerns, disinformation, hate speech and other important areas.

It should be noted that EU members will still have to negotiate the final set of the rules which may take months or even years. However, it is already clear that Big Tech will face increased regulation in this decade.

At this point, investors remain confident that tech companies will be able to solve their regulatory problems, but it should be noted that most Big Tech stocks are trading below highs that were reached in early September.

Oil Ignores Grim Forecasts

Yesterday, OPEC cut its oil demand forecast for 2021 from 96.26 million barrels per day (bpd) to 95.89 bpd. Today, IEA also decided to cut its oil demand forecasts.

Both OPEC and IEA noted that current virus containment measures in Europe put material pressure on oil demand.

Interestingly, oil traders were able to shrug off near-term demand concerns, and WTI oil is trying to get to the test of the recent highs near $47.70.

Energy-related stocks suffered a serious sell-off during yesterday’s trading session, and they will have a good chance to rebound today.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.

About the Author

Vladimir is an independent trader and analyst with over 10 years of experience in the financial markets. He is a specialist in stocks, futures, Forex, indices, and commodities areas using long-term positional trading and swing trading.

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