Stocks poised for a negative start
U.S. stock futures were trading lower early Monday signaling weakness in the wake of last week’s rally.
By 5:10 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow dropped 188 points, or 0.61% to 30,805. The S&P 500 futures lost 21.62 points, or 0.57% to 3,795.88 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures shed 56.37 points, or 0.43% to 13,040.88.
Crude futures also fell, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures moving 47 cents, or 0.9% lower to $51.77 a barrel. Global Brent crude futures were down 80 cents, or 1.43% to $55.19 a barrel.
On Friday, U.S. stocks rose despite an ugly monthly jobs report that showed the labor market lost 140,000 jobs in December, marking the first slump since the recovery began in May.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 56.84 points, or 0.18%, the S&P 500 rose 20.89 points, or 0.55% and the Nasdaq Composite added 134.5 points, or 1.03%.
Twitter stock sinks after banning Trump over fears of inciting violence
Shares of Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) tumbled in pre-market hours Monday after the social media giant permanently locked President Donald Trump’s personal account, @realdonaldtrump.
Twitter shut down the account for good on Friday, citing “severe violations” of the company’s Civic Integrity policy and “risk of further incitement of violence” after Trump incited an attack on the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6.
The Silicon Valley company said accounts used by the president to try to get around the ban could also be suspended under its “ban evasion” policies.
Trump has also been blocked on Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), with the company saying on Thursday that it has banned him from using its social network or Instagram at least until President-elect Joe Biden takes over as president on Jan. 20.
At 5:10 a.m. ET, Twitter shares were indicated 6.76% lower to $48 each in the pre-market trading session. Facebook stock was down 1.88% to $262.53 a share.
Bitcoin drops to $34,000, after hitting $40,000 last week
Bitcoin fell back to about $35,000 on Monday morning, just days after the cryptocurrency topped the $40,000 mark, having doubled its value in less than a month.
The cryptocurrency has grown in popularity as it is seen as an attractive hedging asset against traditional financial markets. Its price has surged more than 700% since the coronavirus pandemic was first declared in March, rising from about $5,000.
As of writing, Bitcoin traded 7.4% lower at $35375.96. Ethereum, the world’s second most valuable cryptocurrency, was down 12.29% to $1114.77.
