S&P 500 Futures part ways from Wall Street’s optimism as Gamestop, US stimulus gridlock probe bulls

S&P 500 Futures drop to 3,760, down 0.15% intraday, as markets in Japan open for Tuesday’s trading. In doing so, the risk barometer refrains from following Wall Street benchmarks amid fresh challenges to sentiment.

Read: Wall Street Close: Bulls cheer retail rush to silver, stimulus talks in focus

Among them, sustained weakness of the Gamestop (GME) stock, as well as further hardships for silver traders, gain major attention. Also on the negative side could be an absence of positive updates from the US stimulus package talks between US President Joe Biden and Republicans.

Despite GME’s latest bounce off intraday lows, the sensational stock remains depressed for the third consecutive day during early Tuesday. Even so, data via IHS, quoted by Bloomberg, suggests a short interest in GME down to 39% of free-floating shares, from 114% in mid-January. On the same line, President of the Atlanta Federal Reserve branch Bostic turned down the Fed’s need to consider Gamestop frenzy as a catalyst while South Korean Finance Minister signalled that herd behaviour like GME could increase.

On the other hand, US Republican Party Senator Susan Collins recently crossed wires, via Reuters, while saying, “A group of Republican U.S. senators held productive discussions with Democratic President Joe Biden about COVID-19 relief, but they did not agree on a package.”

Elsewhere, CME hiked margin requirements for silver by 17.8 in the latest move to curb speculations on the white metal after it jumped 11% to the highest since May.

Amid these plays, US 10-year treasury yields stay pressured above 1.0% whereas stocks in Asia-Pacific trade mixed as traders gather around the floor.

Looking forward, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) monetary policy meeting is the upcoming event that can entertain traders during the Asian session. However, major attention is surrounding the retail rush in silver and stocks like Gamestop.