S&P 500 Futures waver around five-week high above 3,450

S&P 500 Futures struggle to extend Friday’s upbeat performance beyond 3,470 during Monday’s Asian session. The risk barometer recently picked up bids, following the early-Asian risk adjustment, as markets in Tokyo and China opened.

During the weekend, news broke the US House Speaker Pelosi turns down Friday’s proposal from Trump, concerning the coronavirus (COVID-19) aid package worth near $1.8 trillion. This pours cold waters on expectations of further stimulus from the US government.

Also weighing the risk sentiment could be the recent surge in the COVID-19 cases from the UK and Europe, as well as the no-deal Brexit fears. It should be noted that Spain and Germany are badly hit from the pandemic off-late whereas local lockdowns are going to get tough for Northern England.

Elsewhere, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the financial institutions free from the need to set aside cash when purchasing FX for clients through forwards. Similar moves taken in September 2017 resulted in over 2.0% drop of the Chinese yuan (CNY) during the following three weeks.

It’s worth mentioning that the aforementioned moves challenge Friday’s broad US dollar (USD) weakness while also challenging the risk-on mood.

That said, Japan’s Nikkei drops 0.17% while stocks in Australia and New Zealand are mildly bid by the time of the press. Chinese shares are favorite to the market bulls currently as PBOC’s push and absence of the US Treasury bond traders please the Asian equity players.

Moving on, a few of central bank policy members from the ECB and the BOE are likely to cross the wires during late-Monday, which may attempt the traders’ entertain amid an expectedly dull day.