U.S. benchmarks are pointing to modest overnight gains after President Trump announced 4 executive orders over the weekend to extend unemployment benefits and defer payroll taxes. China is  making waves at the onset of the week after arresting Jimmy Lai, a wealthy Hong Kong media mogul, on suspicion of collusion with foreign agents.

Nasdaq-100 futures closed at a fresh record high, and tech stocks accounted for the S&P 500’s resilience against one of the most famous technical levels in history; the scene of the crime gap close from February 21.

U.S. benchmarks are higher on the week and clinging to those gains with jobs in focus.

U.S. benchmarks are set to open higher and commodity prices have surged amid the U.S. dollar weakening overnight.

The Monday rally was real, carrying momentum from Friday’s late surge. The Nasdaq-100 hit a fresh record high intraday yesterday and notched it again overnight on today’s session

The People’s Bank of China said this morning that stimulus in the 2nd half of the year will be more targeted and flexible. Risk-assets then did what they’ve become accustomed to on stimulus news, rally.

Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Alphabet slugged a grand slam after the bell yesterday. Premarket, the behemoths are +7%, +5%, +6% and unchanged respectively after beating top and bottom-line expectations.

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve walked a thin line well; they left policy unchanged and reaffirmed their “do whatever it takes” narrative.

It's Fed Day and the FOMC is expected to leave policy unchanged. Markets will be looking for Powell to reaffirm the Fed’s “do whatever it takes” narrative in order to bring the U.S. economy back from the depths of the pandemic. 

U.S. benchmarks finished higher yesterday after strong technical support held. This morning we look to a deluge of corporate earnings, less so for their 2nd quarter results and more for their outlook.