US stocks close mixed as traders await further economic stimulus

• US stocks were mixed on Wednesday as investors await further stimulus support from the government.
• Affirm spiked as much as 110% on Wednesday after the loan provider's public-market debut.The company's shares started trading publicly at around 12:20 p.m. ET and quickly surged above its offering price of $49.
• Bitcoin climbed higher after plummeting from record highs earlier this week. The world's largest cryptocurrency traded at roughly $36,000 Wednesday afternoon after sliding as low as $30,305.30 Monday night.
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US stocks were mixed on Wednesday as investors await news on another round of stimulus support from the government.

"We're a week away from a new President being sworn into office and the market is interested in the economic plan and, in particular, what might be expected when it comes to coronavirus relief measures. Some market participants are expecting a broader stimulus package but what is unclear at this point is how any future fiscal policy will be offset by tax increases," said Brian Price, CommonWealth Financial Network head of investment management.

The House of Representatives is debating the impeachment of President Donald Trump for a second time, though it's unlikely a trial for Trump will occur before his term ends.

"Donald Trump may remain an important voice in politics and he may be listened to by millions of people, but as for matters that affect the stock market such as signing bills into law and monetary policy, he no longer has an impact in the way that a Democratically controlled Senate, House and Presidency does or in the way the Federal Reserve's easy money policies will," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance.

"As a result, the market will look past any attempts to impeach Donald Trump as this point and will instead focus on additional fiscal stimulus, vaccine rollouts, economic indicators and Federal Reserve policy," added Zaccarelli.

Senate Democrats are weighing whether to combine an infrastructure bill and coronavirus relief legislation into a single, massive multi-trillion-dollar package that could pass without Republican votes, two Democratic aides familiar with the discussions tell Insider.The discussions reflects the desire among Democrats to swiftly capitalize on their new power and enact large parts of their agenda.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 3,809.84, up 0.23%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 31,060.47, down 0.03% (8.22 points)
• Nasdaq composite:13,128.95, up 0.43%

Read more: Corporations rushed to address the Capitol riot and political donations. Here's how those moves reflect the rise of sustainable investing.

Affirm spiked as much as 110% on Wednesday after the loan provider's public-market debut.The company's shares started trading publicly at around 12:20 p.m. ET and quickly surged above its offering price of $49.

GameStop rocketed as much as 93% higher as the company's board-member shakeup continued to pull in investors. The gaming retailer on Monday announced an agreement with activist investor RC Ventures to add three new members to its board, including Chewy founder Ryan Cohen. The Wednesday surge marks GameStop's biggest single-day leap in history and places shares at their highest point since November 2015.

Canoo soared as much as 20% after it was revealed that the company held talks with Apple in 2020 about being acquired or receiving an investment from the iPhone maker. The potential deal with Apple ultimately fell apart and Canoo instead went public via a SPAC. It's just one of the many electric vehicle SPACs in the past year, and Bank of America sees no signs of the EV SPAC boom ending soon.

Read more: Green stocks more than doubled in 2020. The chief strategist at a $1.1 billion hedge fund platform breaks down why a 'decade-long mania' still lies ahead amid the global race to zero.

Bitcoin climbed higher after plummeting from record highs earlier this week. The world's largest cryptocurrency traded at roughly $36,000 Wednesday afternoon after sliding as low as $30,305.30 Monday night.

Spot gold climbed as much as 0.26%, to $1,849.00 per ounce.

Oil prices were lower. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped as much as 0.56%, to $52.91 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international standard, declined 0.94%, to $56.05 per barrel, at intraday highs.

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