5 things to know before the stock market opens Tuesday
Dow futures were pointing to an over 100 point decline at Tuesday's open as a slew of Dow components report earnings, the Federal Reserve kicks off its latest meeting and lawmakers work to resolve differences in the Senate and House coronavirus relief bills. Wall Street started the new week on the upside, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up 0.4% on Monday.
Dow stock Pfizer gained about 3% in Tuesday's premarket after reporting second-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations. The American drugmaker also raised guidance. On Monday evening, Pfizer and German biotech BioNTech began late-stage study for their potential coronavirus vaccine. Earlier in the day, U.S.-based Moderna started its late-stage Covid-19 vaccine trial.
2. Second-quarter earnings continue to pour in
Three other Dow companies deliver quarterly earnings on Tuesday morning. 3M, a maker of face masks and other industrial and consumer products, missed estimates with its second-quarter earnings and revenue. Fast food chain McDonald's saw second-quarter earnings miss forecasts but revenue beat. Aerospace and defense giant Raytheon Technologies beat on the top and bottom lines. Not a Dow component, but airline JetBlue reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and lower-than-expected revenue. Dow stock Visa reports quarterly results after the closing bell Tuesday, along with Advanced Micro Devices and Starbucks.
3. Republicans, Democrats work on new coronavirus bill
How to handle the end-of-the-month expiration of the $600 per week federal boost to state unemployment benefits may prove to be a tough sticking point between Republicans and Democrats looking to craft a coronavirus relief bill compromise. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled Monday afternoon the GOP's approximately $1 trillion proposal, including a provision to set the federal jobless insurance boost to 70% of a worker's previous wages. In their $3.4 trillion coronavirus relief measure, passed in May, House Democrats want to extend the weekly $600 bump to January. Both the Republican and Democratic bills include another round of direct payments to Americans.
4. Fed begins two-day July meeting
As Capitol Hill tries to agree on new Covid-19 aid, the Federal Reserve starts its two-day July policy meeting on Tuesday, followed by an interest rate decision on Wednesday. No policy or rate changes are forecast. However, central bankers are expected to reassure financial markets that they will continue to use their extraordinary programs to help the economy. The Fed's policymaking committee decided to maintain the target range for the overnight fed funds rate at 0%-0.25% at its last meeting in June as it continued to assess the impact of the pandemic on U.S. economic growth.
5. Coronavirus cases appear to slow in key hot spot states
Coronavirus spikes in Arizona, Florida and Texas appear to be slowing down as more people practice social distancing and states mandate face masks. On Sunday, Arizona reported a 13% drop in the seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases. Cases in Texas fell almost 19% over the past seven days. Florida is just beginning to see its case curve flatten, posting an 8% decline in its seven-day average. President Donald Trump drew attention to the favorable data at Monday's coronavirus briefing, saying improving hot-spot states should begin reopening their businesses.
— Reuters contributed to this report. Follow all the developments on Wall Street in real-time with CNBC's live markets blog. Get the latest on the pandemic with our coronavirus blog.
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