Home ›› 26 Aug 2021 ›› Stock
US stock index futures were steady on Wednesday after another record close for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, while investors watched progress in the government’s multi-trillion-dollar investment plans.
Department store operator Nordstrom Inc was a notable mover premarket, sliding 11.4 per cent, after quarterly revenue declined 6 per cent from pre-pandemic levels and the company flagged supply chain issues and stiff competition.
Major Wall Street lenders were mixed, while industrials including Caterpillar Inc and 3M Co inched up about 0.3 per cent after the Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives approved a $3.5 trillion budget framework and agreed to vote by September 27 on a $1 trillion Senate-passed infrastructure bill.
The S&P 500 posted its 50th record high close of this year on Tuesday as positive news on COVID-19 vaccines raised hopes of a swift economic recovery after mixed data recently.
Focus is now on the Federal Reserve’s annual economic symposium at Jackson Hole on Friday for views on when the central bank will start tapering its massive asset purchases program.
“The market’s interpretation of the eventual announcement is much more likely to be dictated by how slowly purchases are unwound, not whether they begin in November or December,” said Hugh Gimber, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
