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US stocks climbed on Tuesday to continue Monday’s rally which saw all major indices close at new record highs.
The House passed a bill Monday to increase the $600 federal direct payments to $2,000. The vote passed 275 to 134, with forty-four House Republicans joining Democrats to approve the bill. The Senate may not approve the bill, though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’ll push for a vote.
“The House just took a strong, bipartisan vote to pass $2,000 checks,” Schumer tweeted Monday evening. “Tomorrow, I’ll move to pass the bill in the Senate. Workers, families, and people are crying out for help. Every Senate Democrat is for this relief. Senate Republicans should not stand in the way.”
President Donald Trump signed the $900 billion bipartisan coronavirus relief package on Sunday and renewed his calls for Congress to raise the amount of the checks to $2,000.
Here’s where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Tuesday:
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Cryptocurrency token XRP fell as much as 31% Tuesday morning after online platform Coinbase said it would fully suspend the digital token from its marketplace by mid-January. This follows the SEC’s complaint against developer Ripple Labs.
The SEC said on December 23 Ripple had effectively been running a $1.3 billion unregistered offering with its sales of XRP, which the regulator deems a security and not a cryptocurrency.
XRP has lost around 75% in value after hitting a two-year high in early November.
Electric-truck company Nikola soared as much as 16% on Monday after JPMorgan said it sees 2021 as a “less drama-filled” year. JPMorgan said Nikola “cleaned house” before year-end given its exit from two partnerships that “were hastily thrown together by the founder, and committed NKLA resources to non-strategic initiatives,” according to the firm. Nikola is up roughly 57% this year, but has dropped significantly from its record highs this summer.
Oil prices moved higher. West Texas Intermediate crude increased 1.32%, to $48.25 per barrel. Brent crude, oil’s international benchmark, increased 1.22%, to $51.48 per barrel.
Gold rose 0.26%, to $1,885.30 per ounce.
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