By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Thursday, with growth stocks seen joining the rally as the Biden administration’s substantial stimulus package nears reality and inflation worries ease.
At 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 85 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 Futures traded 23 points, or 0.6%, higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 205 points, or 1.6%.
The House of Representatives passed the $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan on Wednesday, putting $1,400 in the pockets of people earning less than $80,000 and providing relief for airlines and restaurants among other hard-hit industries. The bill will be sent back to President Joe Biden to be signed into law, probably on Friday.
This helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average to close up 1.5%, at a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index missed out on Wednesday’s rally, but is expected to catch up with hefty gains Thursday.
Helping the growth sector has been a reduction in Treasury yields, with the benchmark 10-Year now yielding less than 1.50%, a substantial drop from the 1.62% level seen last week. This followed the release of benign CPI data Wednesday, as well as the $38 billion auction of 10-year Treasury notes proceeding smoothly.
Thursday sees a $24 billion 30-year bond auction, as well as another read on the health of the labor market in the form of the weekly jobless claims data for last week.
In further positive news, President Biden said he will double the U.S. order of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, bringing the country’s supply to enough for 500 million people. This comes after nearly a quarter of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine shot.
In the corporate sector, attention remains on GameStop (NYSE:GME) as the electronic games retailer’s stock continues its wild ride. Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) will also be in the spotlight, after the online gaming platform saw strong demand for its stock on its debut after a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
Oil prices rose Thursday, as the latest data from the Energy Information Administration showed that domestic gasoline supplies slid last week, by almost 12 million barrels, to the lowest in about four months, while demand rose to the highest since November.
Gains were tempered by crude inventories rising by 13.8 million barrels.
U.S. crude futures traded 1.1% higher at $65.12 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 1.1% to $68.65.
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,729.90/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.1959.