(DAILY NOTION): Is There Anything Stopping the Wall Street Bulls Now? Next Mover: Consumer Prices and Sentiment Report, Fed Powell's Speech

NASDAQ 100 (as of Feb 8, 2021 at 12.15 p.m.)

Source: Yahoo Finance

SPX 500 (as of Feb 8, 2021 at 12.15 p.m.)

Source: Yahoo Finance

US30 (as of Feb 8, 2021 at 12.15 p.m.)

Source: Yahoo Finance

Wall Street had a magnificent closing last week as NAS100 closed 0.57% higher while the SPX500 was up by 0.36%. Both these indices finished the week at record closing highs. Meanwhile, the US30 was also near to beating its all-time closing high as it finished 0.3% higher.

The past week also saw energy stocks benefitting from rising crude oil prices. Another positive note is the fact that most of the SPX500 companies have reported earnings results better than estimates. This is clearly evidenced in the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) which acts as a ‘fear gauge of Wall Street’. Investing.com has reported that the index has dipped to its lower level since early December 2020. This week, companies like AstraZeneca, General Motors, and Twitter will post their earnings reports.

The latest nonfarm payrolls which were released on Friday came in at 49,000 against a forecast of 50,000. Despite this marginal miss, news that the U.S. House has approved a budget bill to enable President Biden’s stimulus package to be passed without the Republican support was clearly enough to boost the market. President Biden has also stated that he plans to send out $1,400 stimulus cheques to those earning less than $50,000 per annum.

However, a word of caution from economist Nick Bunker has to be taken into close consideration, as he reports that more industries actually shed jobs in January than adding them. With that word of caution in mind, greater clarity is received into the state of the U.S. economy. Although this only supports the case towards the approval of the Biden Stimulus Package, however, the Republicans’ concerns over the stimulus package should not go warranted. Their main concern lies in the massive size of the package, and how it would take its toll on the already heavy debt that the U.S. holds, which stands close to $27 trillion. Bearing that number in mind, the Republicans have proposed for a smaller stimulus package of $600 million instead.

Apart from the progress on the Biden stimulus package, traders would most likely be watching the results of the U.S. consumer prices and consumer sentiment which are due for release later this week. The initial jobless claims report would also be in focus as gauge the U.S. labour market. The Chairman of Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, is also due to speak on Wednesday about the labour market, and any sentiment picked up from Powell’s speech could have an impact on the broader market.

FOLLOWME User Sentiment (as of Feb 8, 2021 at 12.12 p.m.)

SPX500

Short – 84.34%

Long – 15.66%

NAS100

Short – 81.55%                

Long – 18.45%

US30

Short – 74.97%

Long – 25.03%