Futures point to a positive start
U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Monday as traders welcomed the roll out of Covid-19 vaccines and remained optimistic that governments will continue to unveil additional stimulus to tackle pandemic fallout.
People in the United Kingdom began receiving the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN) and Oxford University early Monday. More than 4.2 million people in the U.S. had received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines as of Saturday morning, according to the CDC Covid Data Tracker.
As of 5:20 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were indicated 189.5 points, or 0.62% higher to 30,686.5. The S&P 500 futures gained 23.13 points, or 0.62% to 3,771.88 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 63.5 points, or 0.49% to 12,949.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $49.02, up 50 cents, or 1.03% a barrel. International Brent crude futures were up 74 cents, or 1.43% to $52.54 a barrel.
Bitcoin falls slightly after topping $34,000
Meanwhile, Bitcoin traded at $33,060 early Monday after surging to a record high of $34,800 for the first time on Sunday. The world’s most popular cryptocurrency had been climbing slowly but steadily throughout much of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ether, second-highest digital currency by market cap, also surged as the crypto rally continues. The price of Ether rose 29.4% over the last 24 hours to reach a nearly three-year high of $1,001.23.
Tesla delivers 499,550 vehicles, but narrowly misses Musk’s expectations
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) said on Saturday that it delivered a record number of vehicles during the fourth quarter of 2020, but still fell short of the target that CEO Elon Musk expected the electric automaker to hit.
The California-based company shipped 499,550 vehicles during the year, above analysts’ target of 481,261 vehicles. But the company slightly missed Musk’s estimate of 500,000 vehicle deliveries.
Musk hailed the deliveries as a “major milestone” for Tesla. “At the start of Tesla, I thought we had (optimistically) a 10% chance of surviving at all,” he tweeted.
As of writing, Tesla stock was indicated 2.17%, or $15.33 higher to $721 a share in pre-market trading Monday.
NYSE to delist three Chinese firms
In other news, the New York Stock Exchange has begun delisting three Chinese telecom carriers because of their alleged ties to the Chinese military.
The stock exchange announced the decision on Thursday following President Donald Trump’s executive order in November that banned Americans from investing in 31 companies it says help the Chinese military.
China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) will be suspended from trading between Jan. 7 and Jan. 11, along with China Unicom (NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (NYSE: CHA). The NYSE said in a statement that proceedings to delist them have begun.
China’s Ministry of Commerce has condemned the move, saying over the weekend that the U.S. was “abusing national security and using state power to crack down on Chinese enterprises.”
