ASX drops despite promises of more US stimulus

Welcome back to the first Foolish Weekly Wrap of 2021! The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had a muted week last week, dropping 0.6% despite a raft of positive developments for ASX shares.

The leading story was the late-week announcement of another massive stimulus package over in the United States. President-elect Joe Biden made the announcement on Friday morning (our time) and told Americans that his plan ‘doesn’t come cheap’ but is necessary to help the US economy transition to a post-COVID, vaccinated future.

The US$1.9 trillion plan involves another round of US$1,400 stimulus cheques as well as funding injections for vaccine rollout efforts, among other provisions.

The markets reacted positively to the announcement on…