In a much awaited moment a anxious United States, the House passed a $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Friday, sending the historic measure to President Trump’s desk after a struggle to stymie efforts to postpone its passage.
The fiscal stimulus plan, which moved unanimously through the Senate Wednesday evening, includes one-time payments to individuals, strengthened unemployment insurance, additional health-care funding and loans and grants to businesses to deter layoffs. House Speaker Pelosi described the bill “as mitigation” of the disease’s destruction, predicting there would be more plans to aid “recovery.”
Stocks are languishing amid the news, with most sectors in the red Friday, giving back some of the significant gains made in the first 3-day run for the Dow and the S&P 500 since the inauguration of the fastest bear market in history that commenced in February, amid the burgeoning spread of the coronavirus in the United States.
As of just before 2PM EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped 564 points, or 2.61%. The S&P 500 tumbled 2.2% along with the Nasdaq Composite.
Stock index ETFs are also struggling on Friday, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) down 2.2%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) drooping 2.6%, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) falling 2.6%.
Senators scrambled to pass the proposal just a day after data showed unemployment claims blasting to a record 3.3 million last week after businesses across the country shuttered to stem the pandemic’s spread. The United States also became the country with the most confirmed cases of coronavirus, beating out Italy, with cities like New York being ravaged by the pandemic and scrambling for relief.
In closing remarks before the vote, Pelosi thanked the front line workers who have risked their safety fighting the outbreak.
“Congress must show the same courage, same resilience and same strength … to put families and workers first,” she said.
For more market trends, visit ETF Trends.