US and global stock markets were buoyed by news that President Biden had continued with the status quo, nominating Jerome Powell for a second term as Fed Chair.
The decision stood out as one of the major risks to the delicately poised domestic economy and ensures stability is retained as the central bank seeks to exit its accommodative policies in the coming years.
The Dow Jones was relatively flat on the news despite investors suggesting it will be positive for the banking sector and may trigger a number of acquisitions.
The likes of JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Wells Fargo (ASX: WFC) all gained at least 2%.
The S&P 500 finished 0.3% lower with the Nasdaq falling 1.3% after bond yields increased and investors grow wary of COVID in Europe.
The Chinese market also rallied after commentary around policy easing by the People’s Bank of China was lightened, suggesting that credit growth may return.
In company-specific news, Disney (NYSE: DIS) shares continued their difficult recent run with a lack of new production content halting the growth in subscribers, but management remains confident of their 260 million target by 2024.
US stock market movers
Here’s how other popular US shares started the week on Monday.
- Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) up 7.2%
- Ford (NYSE: F) up 5.6%
- Mastercard (NYSE: MA) down 5.4%
- Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB) down 7.5%
- Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) down 9.2%
- Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) down 11.2%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is set to follow this negative lead from US markets to open lower on Tuesday. For all the latest, check out my ASX 200 morning report.
