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Investing.com — U.S. stock markets opened at record highs on Monday after President Donald Trump dropped his objections to signing into law the $900 billion stimulus package passed last week by Congress.
By 9:35 AM ET (1435 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 170 points, or 0.6%, at 30,370 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both up 0.7%.
There remains a slim possibility of the stimulus package being augmented over the next two days. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives is set to vote on a proposal by Trump to increase the direct payments to households foreseen in the bill to $2,000 from $600. The Republican-led Senate, which reconvenes on Tuesday, has so far not endorsed anything higher than what’s in the bill. However, some Senators may wish to avoid any negative publicity from blocking the suggestion with barely a week to go until runoffs for two key Senate seats in Georgia, which will determine control of the upper chamber for the next two years.
Airline stocks were among the most visible winners from Trump’s change of heart, which unlocked some $15 billion in extra aid for the industry: American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) stock rose 3.5%, while Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) stock, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) stock and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) stock all rose by between 1.4% and 1.6%.
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) ADRs shrugged off the latest piece of negative news surrounding the company, rising 0.5% despite the central bank of China ordering big changes to the operating model of its financial services arm Ant Group. Alibaba’s ADRs had fallen by over 13% on Thursday after Chinese antitrust regulators launched an investigation into suspected abusive practices by the e-commerce giant. The People’s Bank of China on Monday published a statement on its website that paved the way to curtailing its operations in wealth management and consumer credit and “rectify” irregularities in its insurance arm – the three divisions that make most of Ant Group’s profit.
