Passersby wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease are reflected on a screen displaying stock prices outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan on March 17, 2020.
Biden proposed the sweeping new $1.8 trillion plan in a speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, pleading with Republican lawmakers to work with him on divisive issues and to meet the stiff competition posed by China. "If it passes, I think it will have an impact on individual stocks that will pay a higher rate of tax or companies with founders that will pay capital gains and could sell stocks," he said. "I think investors are going to think about whether they want take their gains now and that creates the possibility of short-term volatility now.
Excerpts of Biden's speech released in advance by the White House "hit the high points - big infra spend, talking climate action and vaccines," said John Milroy, investment adviser at Ord Minnett. "The Fed remains dovish, all very supportive."