Wall Street looks past violent protests in Washington DC
U.S. stock futures rose Thursday, adding to gains in the previous session, as market participants shrugged off violent scenes on Capitol Hill to focus on certification of Joe Biden as the next President.
Vice President Mike Pence announced in the early hours of Thursday that Biden had won the presidency after members of the House and Senate completed the counting of the Electoral College votes.
President Donald Trump later released a statement pledging “an orderly transition” of power on Jan. 20.
Hours earlier, an angry mob of Trump’s supporters violently breached the Capitol building in an attempt to block the certification process. A woman was shot and killed by police and three protestors died from medical emergencies, according DC Metro police.
As of 5:20 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow were indicated 116 points, or 0.38% higher to 30,836. The S&P 500 futures gained 18.88 points, 0.5% to 3,759.38 while the tech-dominated Nasdaq 100 added 83.87 points, or 0.66% to 12,700.62.
Democrats handed control of the Senate as Warnock, Ossoff win in Georgia
Meanwhile, Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have won their runoff elections in Georgia handing their party control of the U.S. Senate for the first time since 2015.
Warnock defeated incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler in one of the state’s two Senate run-offs, and Ossoff beat incumbent David Perdue in the other.
The two victories mean the U.S. Senate will be split 50-50 and the tie-breaking vote will go to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, giving Democrats full sway over Congress.
This will make it easier for Biden to implement his legislative agenda through Congress since his party already controls the House of Representatives.
Weekly jobless data expected to show an increase in claims
On the data front, traders are awaiting the U.S. Department of Labor to publish its weekly unemployment report at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Economists expect the report to show the number of people filing for jobless benefits jumped to 800,000 in the week ended Jan. 2, possibly because of increased restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The figure for initial claims in the week ended Dec. 26, stood at 787,000.
Roblox eyes direct listing instead of traditional IPO
In other news, Roblox announced on Wednesday that it is planning to go public through a direct listing. The online gaming company was previously considering a traditional initial public offering.
The company also confirmed that it raised $520 million in a new round of private funding led by Dragoneer Investment Group and Altimeter Capital. It now has a valuation of approximately $29.5 billion.
Roblox made the announcement just days after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) amended rules to allow companies to raise primary capital through direct listings.
In a direct listing, only investors can buy shares through the open market.
