After several days of chaos and turmoil, which have become characteristic of Donald Trump’s presidency, the POTUS finally signed the $900 billion bipartisan stimulus bill.
Last week Trump threw a wrench in the workings of the government when he said he would not sign the bill, which is the result of nearly four months of difficult negotiations between Democrats, Republicans, and the White House.
Trump claimed he wanted $2,000 direct payments to individuals as coronavirus relief, while the amount in the bill was significantly smaller. House Democrats immediately agreed to raise it to $2,000, because they wanted more generous spending from the start, but with resistance from Senate Republicans and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, that number was unrealistic.
Within 30 hours of the government shutting down - as the bill also contained the operational funds for the next nine months - Trump decided to approve the proposal after all. However, his delay did cause unemployment benefits to get interrupted since he signed it after the previous scheme expired. If he had signed it when the bill was first brought to him last Monday, the crisis would have been narrowly averted.
Still, the House of Representatives will vote on an increase in direct payments to $2,000 today, though they will likely meet with resistance from the Republican Party, which can kill the proposal when it gets to the Senate.
On the stock market, today Chinese giant Alibaba Group is of interest, after the People’s Bank of China hinted at more regulation coming its way. The company’s shares have been dropping today.
US stock indices are rising thanks to Trump’s approval of the stimulus package. Any steps taken to soften the blow of the coronavirus to the economy are working in favor of risky assets. As a result, safe havens like the dollar are weakening today.
The British pound is also weakening today because investors had more time to familiarize themselves with the full text of the trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union announced on Thursday. Though the two parties agreed to continue their trade tariff-free, the financial sector’s fate is a bit uncertain. There are several other concerns about the agreement which are pressuring the pound.
Regardless, the deal was provisionally approved by the EU today. It is to be discussed in the UK Parliament later this week.
