Today the United States Senate will reconvene. On the agenda is the confirmation hearing of Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice for Treasury Secretary. Yellen’s top credentials for the job include her many years of experience in the Federal Reserve, most notably leading it in the years following the 2008 financial crisis.
Yellen will likely argue that the upcoming administration will need to channel trillions of dollars into stimulus for the economy in order to support its recovery. She will most likely be confirmed for the position of Treasury Secretary, especially considering Democrats wrestled control over the Senate away from Republicans.
All US stock indices are likely to increase today due to Yellen’s hearing and the statements the soon-to-be Treasury Secretary will make. It appears that Yellen, Biden, and Fed Chief Jerome Powell are of the same opinion regarding supporting the economy, which in turn is boosting the value of stock indices and weakening safe havens.
Notable companies to watch out for today include Goldman Sachs and Netflix.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic appears to be easing. The number of new daily cases globally has been decreasing for about a week now. Especially in the United States, the most affected country in the world, infections have been dropping and were 50% yesterday than on January 8 when the US experienced its highest-ever daily total.
Things are also looking up in Europe, where Germany and Italy managed to bring infections below 10,000 per day. However, Germany will remain under a lockdown until mid-February as a precaution.
Spain, however, is raising a red flag. The country experienced one of its highest daily increases yesterday (33,800 new infections). It has seen numbers above 30,000 several times in the past week, with January 15’s 40,000 cases holding the record.
Highlights from the economic calendar today include Germany’s December inflation rate report (-0.3%, in line with the forecasts) and the ZEW economic surveys from Europe. The eurozone-wide survey was at 58.4, higher than the previous report, while Germany’s came in at 61.8, better than anticipated.
