The US financial markets were mixed yesterday in light of the Senate's decision to back Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.
The stimulus bill, which will mostly provide additional help to the unemployed and to state and local governments, is now set to be discussed again in the House of Representatives, as it needs to be approved before it reaches Joe Biden's office. Regarding this, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commented that the bill will be voted on by Wednesday.
The Senate decided to exclude a minimum wage raise that was being pushed by the independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, as all Senate Republicans, plus a group of Democratic senators, voted against it.
The US is now in the midst of a very ambitious vaccination campaign against the COVID-19 virus, which so far has infected 29,744,652 individuals in the United States, with 538,628 deaths. The CDC recently announced that people who have already received the vaccine will be able to meet indoors without using masks.
“There are some activities that fully vaccinated people can begin to resume now in the privacy of their own homes. Everyone, even those who are vaccinated, should continue with all mitigation strategies when in public settings,” the CDC announced.
The US is currently administering about 2.2 million dosages per day, a significant increase of 1.3 million doses since mid-January. Over the weekend, the CDC administered around 5.3 million vaccines and called on state leaders to keep advocating for social distance measures.
President Joe Biden recently announced that the US will have enough dosages to vaccinate the whole adult population by the end of May, which is two months earlier than previously intended. Nevertheless, Biden said that they can't let their guard down now and that they must remain vigilant and "lookout for one another".
"That's how we're going to get ahead of this virus, get our economy going again and get back to our loved ones," commented Biden.
During yesterday's session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained ground, rising by 0.97% and closing the session at the 31,802.44 level. Similarly, the NYSE Composite gained 0.24% during the session, closing at the 15,288.38 level. On the other hand, tech stocks declined during the session, with the S&P 500 falling by 0.54% and closing at the 3,821.35 level, followed by the NASDAQ 100, which dropped by 2.92% during the session and closed at the 12,299.08 level. As rising yields continue pushing down equity markets, tech stocks are expected to continue suffering from volatility this week.