The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 futures are paying close attention to the European Central Bank’s monetary policy decision. The outcome of this is likely to bring some wild moves for the euro against the dollar and for European indices.
The expectations are that the bank will keep its monetary policy unchanged. Previously, the ECB increased its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program by 600 billion euros also extended the duration until June 2021. This saved the Eurozone from a significant contraction and the economic data supports this argument. Of course, the firm control over the coronavirus pandemic situation has also played its part in this economic recovery.
The ECB is likely to be pleased with its current measures but it may highlight the impact of worsening pandemic situation abroad. Traders are hopeful that their cautious approach but optimistic tone will spur rally in the euro and European stocks.
DJIA Index and US Unemployment Claims
The DJIA futures are likely to get more tail wind if the US weekly jobless claims data shows that there is more improvement in the US jobs market. The weekly unemployment claims are expected to drop to 1.25 million against the previous reading of 1.314 million. But skeptics will still drum the same beat—the US still has over 1.25 million unemployment claims.
Dow And S&P500 : Market Breadth
The stock market’s breadth shows continues improvement in bull momentum. 49% of the S&P 500 stocks have traded above their 200-day moving average, 4% change from the day before.
The DJ30 stocks continue to show more bullish support for the coronavirus stock market rally. 83% of the stocks are trading above their 50-day moving average.
Dow Jones And S&P 500 Futures Today
Dow futures are trading lower by 100 points. Traders are taking some profit off the table ahead of economic-data heavy day.
The Dow Jones futures price remain above the 200-day simple moving average on a daily time frame yesterday. As long as the DJ30 index price is above the 50, 100 and 200-day SMA, the bull rally is likely to continue.
The S&P 500 index, which is a better representation of the US stock market, is also trading above all the critical moving averages such as the 50, 100 and 200-day SMA. The S&P 500 price action on the weekly chart also looks bullish and this confirms that traders are likely to continue to buy stocks.
Stock Market Rally
The S&P500 is only a few points away before it erases its year-to-date losses. As of yesterday, it was down only 0.13% YTD. The S&P 500 stocks pushed the index higher by 0.91% yesterday. Apart from the utility sector, all the rest 11 sectors closed in positive territory.
The Dow Jones gained 227 points yesterday and closed higher by 0.85%. 25 shares advanced and 5 fell. Boeing (NYSE:BA) jumped the most yesterday and UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) was the biggest drag.
The NASDAQ Composite, a tech-heavy index, also advanced 0.11% yesterday.
Coronavirus: California Reports Record COVID-19 Deaths
Coronavirus global tracker confirm 573K deaths due to COVID-19 and global coronavirus cases continue to rise.
California shattered record records yesterday. It reported highest number of coronavirus cases, over 11K coronavirus cases were reported in California. The hospitalization rate due to Covid-19 went also through the roof. Sadly, California also reported record deaths.