Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- Futures rose Friday as investors digested a proposal for higher taxes to pay for President Joe Biden’s fiscal stimulus.Contracts on both the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq 100 posted modest gains, signaling the U.S. gauges may be poised to rebound from sharp declines on a Bloomberg News report Biden plans to nearly double the capital gains rate on the wealthy. Intel Corp., the biggest chipmaker, fell 2.6% in premarket trading following a slump in gross profit margin. The dollar dipped and Treasury yields steadied.Investors are weighing the implications of higher taxes against the potential spillover benefits of spending on infrastructure. While loose central bank policy is helping support stocks near record highs, these levels look precarious given worsening news about the spread of Covid-19 in parts of the world.Read: Fat Valuations and Tech Stocks Seen as at Risk in Biden Tax Plan“We don’t think it derails the equity market recovery,” said Nupur Gupta, portfolio manager at Eastspring Investments, said of the tax proposal on Bloomberg TV. “Equity sentiment does appear to be stretched, which is why any negative news that you get can lead to a consolidation in markets in the short term.”European stocks fell, on course for their first weekly decline in eight weeks. Carnival Plc shares dropped as much as 4.4% in London after Morgan Stanley flagged caution on cruise lines. Swedish telecom Telia Co. also declined despite first-quarter results in line with forecasts.Meanwhile, oil prices headed for a weekly drop of about 2.5% as energy demand wavers with the virus rampant in key markets outside the U.S.Elsewhere, Bitcoin slid below $50,000, headed for its seventh loss in eight days. Investors already face a capital-gains tax if they hold the cryptocurrency for more than a year.The U.S. releases new home sales data later on Friday.These are some of the main moves in markets:StocksFutures on the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.1% as of 8:26 a.m. New York time.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.7%.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.5%.The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.7%.CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.4%.The euro jumped 0.4% to $1.2068.The British pound increased 0.3% to $1.3879.The onshore yuan was little changed at 6.491 per dollar.The Japanese yen strengthened 0.3% to 107.61 per dollar.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries fell less than one basis point to 1.53%.The yield on two-year Treasuries gained less than one basis point to 0.15%.Germany’s 10-year yield sank two basis points to -0.28%.Japan’s 10-year yield dipped less than one basis point to 0.071%.Britain’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 0.72%.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $61.46 a barrel.Brent crude dipped 0.1% to $65.31 a barrel.Gold strengthened 0.6% to $1,793.80 an ounce.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.