U.S. Stock Futures Are Higher After Yesterday's Selloff #Merck #Economy #Pelosi

U.S. stock futures are higher: After a sell off yesterday, futures markets are higher this morning. For the 3Q’21, the Dow dropped 1.9%; the S&P 500 gained 0.2%; and the Nasdaq fell 0.4% but YTD gained 10.6%, 14.7% and 12.1%, respectively.  Merck announced that its experimental Covid-19 pill helped prevent high risk covid patients from becoming seriously sick and plans to file an emergency use authorization as soon as possible. The Personal Consumption Expenditures index was up month over month at 0.4% versus consensus of 0.3% and y/y also increased to 4.3% compared to 4.2% for estimates. 10y & 30y treasury yields  ticked up about 2 bps following the announcement. Energy prices declined in early trading as commodity prices hit yearly highs and investors are concerned about demand destruction in economic growth as elevated basic energy costs might increase with winter coming. Congress failed to vote on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill since Speaker Pelosi had insufficient votes to pass it and may bring it vote today. Inflation worries are driving down international markets this morning.  High yield spreads have widened out and  investment grade levels remain tight.