Stocks slide ahead of Biden's $1.9T coronavirus stimulus plan

U.S. equity markets fell Thursday as traders awaited details of President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	44782	-128.65	-0.29%
SP500	S&P 500	6047.15	+14.77	+0.24%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	19403.947849	+185.78	+0.97%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68 points or 0.22% while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were weaker by 0.38% and 0.12%, respectively. Both the Dow and the Nasdaq hit intraday record highs early in the session.

The wind came out of the market late in the session after headlines indicated Biden’s proposal would total $1.9 trillion, less than the $2 trillion that was floated earlier in the day. Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, was seeking a $1.3 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, President Trump on Wednesday was impeached for "incitement of insurrection." The 232 to 197 vote saw all House Democrats and 10 of their Republican counterparts back the measure. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the upper chamber won’t be able to begin a trial until Jan. 19 at the earliest – one day before Biden’s inauguration.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
DAL	DELTA AIR LINES INC.	63.41	-0.41	-0.64%

Looking at stocks, Delta Air Lines Inc. halved its daily cash burn to $12 million during the three months through December while posting a slightly larger quarterly loss than Wall Street analysts had expected. The Atlanta-based airline lost a record $12.39 billion last year. CEO Ed Bastian telling FOX Business the carrier will likely return to profitability by the summer, possibly breaking even by the spring.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
BLK	BLACKROCK INC.	1,019.00	-7.50	-0.73%
JPM	JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.	249.76	-0.14	-0.06%
WFC	WELLS FARGO & CO.	77.20	-0.17	-0.22%
C	CITIGROUP INC.	70.16	+0.42	+0.60%

BlackRock Inc. reported quarterly earnings and revenue that exceeded estimates as assets under management reached a record $8.68 trillion. On Friday a trio of big banks will report results including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
TSLA	TESLA INC.	357.09	+11.93	+3.46%

Elsewhere, Tesla Inc. was asked by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recall 158,000 vehicles due to failing touchscreens.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GME	GAMESTOP CORP.	27.27	-1.78	-6.13%

Meanwhile, GameStop Corp. surged for a second straight day amid a presumed short squeeze as short interest recently hit 138% of shares outstanding. Shares of the video-game retailer gained 58% Wednesday.

And in IPO news, Poshmark shares jumped 132% in their debut trade on the Nasdaq, opening at $97.50 apiece after pricing at $42 on Wednesday evening.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
POSH	NO DATA AVAILABLE	-	-	-

In other tech news, Intel Corp. shares continued their momentum from Wednesday when they gained 6.97% following the news that CEO Bob Swan would step down next month. He will be replaced by VMWare Inc. chief executive Pat Gelsinger.

In deal news, Google and Fitbit closed their $2.1 billion deal after U.K. regulators approved the transaction. U.S. regulators, meanwhile, have not yet signed off. In a company blog, Google said the deal has "always been about devices, not data, and we’ve been clear since the beginning that we will protect Fitbit users’ privacy."

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GOOGL	ALPHABET INC.	171.49	+2.54	+1.50%

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 66 cents to $53.57 per barrel and gold slid $3.30 to $1,850.30 an ounce.

Britain’s FTSE 100 paced the gains in Europe, advancing 0.84%, Germany’s DAX 30 adding 0.35% and France’s CAC 30 edging up 0.33%.

Asian markets ended mixed with China’s Shanghai Composite index falling 0.91% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.85% and 0.93%, respectively.