In the early morning of the 22nd Beijing time, U. S. stocks fell slightly at midday on Wednesday. Investors are wondering whether members of Congress can manage to pass the stimulus package this week and keep an eye on the epidemic in the United States. Pelosi said she was optimistic about the progress of the stimulus talks and agreed to continue the talks. The White House chief of staff says a stimulus deal is planned within 48 hours.
The Dow fell 54.10 points, or 0.19%, to 28254.69; the Nasdaq fell 12.44 points, or 0.11%, to 11504.05; and the S & P 500 fell 3.22 points, or 0.09%, to 3439.90.
Pelosi says negotiations are making progress White House chief of staff says the goal is to reach an agreement within 48 hours
White House Chief of staff Meadows said Tuesday night that Pelosi and Mnuchin had made "good progress" in stimulus negotiations. The news boosted confidence in the passage of the stimulus package. U.S. president Donald Trump has also expressed his willingness to accept a larger aid bill.
The White House has increased the size of the proposed fiscal stimulus package by $80 billion to $1.88 trillion, Meadows said.
Meadows further pointed out on Wednesday that the goal is to reach a new epidemic relief bill within 48 hours. But he also pointed out that many problems still need to be solved, the biggest of which is state and local government assistance.
However, some Republican senators are opposed to a larger stimulus package. So even if Democrats reach an agreement with the White House, the key to whether it can be released before the election lies in whether Trump and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell can convince these lawmakers.
Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group (LCG), pointed out that this is the last chance to introduce an economic stimulus bill before the US election, and whether it is introduced or not will determine the direction of the stock market in the near future.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the media on Tuesday that she was "optimistic" about the progress of fiscal stimulus talks with the Trump administration and agreed to continue the talks. Pelosi had set Tuesday as the deadline to reach a fiscal stimulus deal.
White House Chief of staff Meadows outlined the status of the talks after Pelosi had a 45-minute conversation with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin on Tuesday. He said that the two sides had made "good progress", but that there was "still some way to go" to reach an agreement. Pelosi and Mnuchin plan to talk again on Wednesday.
Asked if she thought an agreement could be reached by the end of the week, Pelosi replied: "I hope so. That's the plan." Ahead of a phone call with Finance Minister Mnuchin on Tuesday afternoon, she said Democrats and the White House were close to reaching an anti-epidemic stimulus deal.
Pelosi played down the importance that she must reach an agreement by the end of Tuesday, saying: "it's not that today is the day when we reach an agreement, but to put our respective terms on the table so that we can take the next step."
Pelosi added that to prepare the stimulus bill before election day, lawmakers must reach an agreement and write the bill by the end of the week.
But even if House Democrats can quickly reach a deal with the Trump administration, it is doubtful whether the Republican-controlled Senate will vote to pass the deal.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that if Pelosi and Mnuchin finally bridge their differences and pass the anti-epidemic bailout fiscal stimulus bill in the House of Representatives, the Senate will take over the bill. McConnell did not say whether he would support such a deal or encourage Republicans to support it.
According to media reports, McConnell also told colleagues on Tuesday that he had warned the White House not to reach a large-scale stimulus deal before the November 3 election.
McConnell hinted that Pelosi did not negotiate with Finance Minister Mnuchin in good faith and that reaching a deal could undermine the Senate's plan to confirm the nomination of Justice Barrett next week.
The epidemic situation of coronavirus in the United States is grim. Experts say tightening epidemic prevention measures may affect the economy.
According to Johns Hopkins University statistics, as of 20:00 Eastern time on October 20, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States has exceeded 8.12 million. Although the data are not optimistic, a set of classified data recently revealed that there are a large number of unreported cases in prisons, schools and meat packing plants in Illinois, suggesting that the actual situation of the epidemic in the United States may be worse than it seems.
At present, some epidemiologists have warned that the epidemic in the United States may have a "third peak", and is mainly concentrated in the Midwest and the plains. Us media reported that the third wave of outbreaks in the Midwest and west of the United States was the worst.
With regard to the epidemic in Europe, the president of the European Central Bank warned that the surge in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases posed a "major risk".
British experts say the second wave of the epidemic is likely to lead to tens of thousands of deaths in the UK, suggesting immediate and strict control across the UK.
Professor Edmunds, a member of the British government's scientific advisory group on emergencies, said the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic could kill tens of thousands of people in the UK.
Professor Edmunds's analysis believes that if the current basic number of infections of 1.3 to 1.5 cannot be reduced, the epidemic will peak in the north-west of the UK in the next four to six weeks, and other regions will then catch up; it is expected that by the end of December, the infection situation across the UK will be very serious. He suggested that the UK should take immediate and comprehensive regulatory action instead of implementing strict control measures only in high-risk areas at present.
UBSIt is believed that the world's economies are imposing stricter restrictions on epidemic prevention, which is the "main downside risk" in the fourth quarter. "forget the US election or fiscal stimulus, tightening the blockade is the biggest near-term risk to the economic outlook," kapteyn, chief economist at UBS, wrote in a research paper.
"if countries start to impose stricter blockades on epidemic prevention, even if it lasts only a few weeks, it will be enough to turn negative economic growth in the fourth quarter," he said. " Several economies, including France and the Netherlands, have tightened epidemic prevention measures in recent weeks.
Focus stocks
Snap Inc, Twitter、 Facebook IncAnd other social media stocks generally rose. MKM Partners raised Snap Inc's target price to $40 from $29.
NetflixThe number of new subscribers in the third quarter of the report was lower than expected. Brokerage Oppenheimer raised its target price to $550 from $515.
Nikola shares rose. General Motors CoThe president said he was "excited" about the cooperation with Nikola. In addition, General Motors Co also announced an investment of 2 billion US dollars to build an electric vehicle factory in Tennessee.
Verizon Communications Inc's third-quarter revenue fell 4.1 per cent year-on-year to $31.5 billion, below market expectations of $31.59 billion, but the decline improved from 5.1 per cent in the second quarter, mainly due to an increase of 417000 new wireless business customers, up from 280000 in the second quarter. The number of post-pay phone users also increased by 283000, higher than the average market expectation of 268000. The total number of net new users increased by 553000, more than double the number expected by the market.
EricssonThe results in the third quarter beat expectations.
Abbott LaboratoriesThird-quarter revenue was $8.85 billion, up 9.6% from a year earlier and exceeding analysts' expectations of $8.5 billion. Earnings per share rose 16.7% year-on-year to $0.98, exceeding market expectations of $0.90.
NASDAQThird-quarter net revenue rose 13% to $715 million, above market estimates of $690.2 million. Among them, thanks to the sharp increase in trading volume, revenue from Nasdaq's largest business market services business increased by 39%, while revenue from the largest non-trading business also grew strongly, with a growth rate of 20%. Nasdaq's adjusted earnings per share for the quarter were $1.53, beating market expectations of $1.46.
AMC accepted the placement agreement to sell about 10.8 million shares at $23.20 per share.
Pass Baidu, Inc.It is planned to complete the secondary listing in Hong Kong by the end of this year.
Who to learn from?The share price plummeted. Market rumors: who to learn from the third quarter market expected revenue of 2.12 billion, actually less than 2 billion.
In other markets, major European stock indexes closed lower on Wednesday, with Germany's DAX30 down 1.43%, the UK's FTSE 100 down 1.90%, France's CAC40 down 1.53% and the European Stoxx 50 down 1.44%.