Monday’s Stock Market Open: US Equities Mixed As Senate GOP Prepares To Unveil New Stimulus Package

U.S. stocks opened mixed on Monday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell prepares to introduce Republicans new COVID-19 relief bill.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 12.33 points to 26,457.56, while the S&P 500 edged up 1.43 points to 3,217.06 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 57.28 points to 10,420.46.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News on Sunday that Republicans have completed their new $1 trillion COVID-19 relief bill and will introduce it Monday.

“We do have an entire plan,” Mnuchin said. “The [Trump] administration and the Senate Republicans are completely on the same page.”

The GOP proposal is expected to include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks for Americans.

Aneta Markowska, chief economist at Jefferies warned there “is still a wide gap between the GOP and Democrats, especially on unemployment benefits and state and local [government] aid. Closing the gap will probably take more than a week, which means that an agreement is unlikely to be reached before July 31.”

Moderna (MRNA) began large trial for COVID-19 vaccine.

While most companies have beat analysts’ earnings expectations, overall S&P 500 earnings have plunged more than 40% last year.

“Stock prices have soared even as analysts’ consensus expected earnings estimates have plunged,” said Ed Yardeni, chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research. “These estimates have started to show signs of bottoming in the past few weeks. However, any recovery could be dampened or even aborted if the COVID-19 case count continues to mount and state governors slow or reverse the lifting of lockdown restrictions.”

McDonald’s (MCD), Pfizer (PFE), Alphabet (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) will issue their latest quarterly earnings this week.

Gold prices surged to a new record high of almost $1,944 per ounce.

U.S. durable goods orders gained 7.3% in June.

The Federal Reserve will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“The July FOMC meeting should kick off a period from August into mid-September in which markets should price in an increasingly dovish, forward-looking Fed policy via lower real rates,” Morgan Stanley strategists wrote in a report. “This should benefit breakeven inflation rates, support risk assets, and weigh on the U.S. dollar.”

Overnight in Asia, markets finished lower, as China’s Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.26%; Japan’s Nikkei-225 fell 0.16% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Exchange dropped 0.41%.

In Europe markets traded mixed, as Britain’s FTSE-100 fell 0.2%, while France’s CAC-40 slipped 0.3% and Germany’s DAX edged up 0.05%.

Crude oil futures slipped 0.53% at $41.07 per barrel, Brent crude gained 0.58% at $43.59. Gold futures rose 1.67%.