Yesterday’s afternoon market selloff in the US, which was sparked by reports that US President Biden is planning to raise income and capital gains taxes for top earning Americans in conjunction with the human infrastructure program he is planning to unveil next week, appears to have run its course for now. US index futures are flat to up 0.2% after falling about 0.9% yesterday.
One potential development which could impact sentiment today, particularly in sectors which are more sensitive to the reopening of the economy, is the widely expected CDC decision on whether to allow the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine to resume. Use of the J&J vaccine was recently paused so that the agency could investigate reports of blood clotting in six patients out of approximately 6.8 million doses administered so far. JNJ shares are flat in premarket trading so far as investors await the news which could potentially impact the speed of the American vaccination program.
Cryptocurrencies have continued to crumble overnight. Bitcoin has broken down beneath $50,000 and was recently trading near $49,670 down 6.4% on the day. Some other cryptos have been hammered even more with Ethereum down 10.5% and LiteCoin down 14.5%. Some of the capital interested in alternative currencies may be finding its way back into precious metals as gold and silver are both up 0.7% today. Metals in general have been strengthening with copper up 1.1% and platinum gaining 2.7%.
Another round of generally positive earnings reports have come out from the US overnight and into this morning. Highlights include: American Express ($2.74 vs street $1.61), Honeywell ($1.92 vs street $1.80), Snap (Breakeven vs street $0.06), Mattel (-$0.10 vs street -$0.35), and Intel ($1.39 vs street $1.15).
