Here are the top news, trends, and analysis investors need to start their trading day:
1. Stock futures decline as investors look in the eye in Covid cases
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is located in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City on January 28, 2021.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
US stock futures were lower on Monday morning, with Dow futures implying an opening decline of more than 400 points. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were also clearly in the red as investor concerns about the economic impact of a resurgence in Covid cases heightened. Stocks that benefit from a Covid rebound, such as cruise lines, led the pre-IPO losses.
The development of the futures follows negative weeks for all three major US stock indices and breaks the three-week profit streak for each. Tech-heavy Nasdaq was the underperformer, down 1.87% last week. The 30-strong Dow was down 0.52% while the broad S&P 500 was down 0.97%. The yield on 10-year government bonds, which is moving in the opposite direction to the prices, was also lower on Monday and temporarily fell below 1.25%. The benchmark note’s return has fallen in recent months after hitting 1.7% in mid-May.
Wall Street will get more insights into the U.S. economic recovery this week thanks to another series of corporate earnings reports including Netflix, United Airlines and Chipotle after Bell Tuesday, and Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson ahead of Wednesday’s opening.
2. OPEC and allies agree to end oil production cuts by September 2022
An OPEC sign hangs in front of the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, Austria on November 29, 2017.
Akos Stiller | Bloomberg | Getty Images
OPEC and its allies have agreed on a new supply agreement and have agreed to steadily stop reducing oil production by 5.8 million barrels per day by September 2022. The increases in supply are to begin in August, according to a statement by OPEC. The deal comes about as oil prices have soared this year after demand rebounded from the economic slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The deal also comes after OPEC and non-OPEC partners abruptly ended a series of meetings earlier this month when there was disagreement between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Brent crude fell around 2.6% to $ 71.67 a barrel on Monday morning, while US benchmark crude oil futures West Texas Intermediate fell more than 2.7% to below $ 70 a barrel.
3. Zoom in to buy Five9 all-stock
Zoom founder Eric Yuan speaks at the opening bell of Nasdaq on April 18, 2019 in New York City.
Hit by Betancur | Getty Images
Zoom Video Communications plans to purchase software company Five9 in an all-stock deal for $ 14.7 billion, the company’s first billion-dollar acquisition. The transaction, announced on Sunday, comes as more and more companies move away from full remote work during the Covid era and bring employees back to the office. Zoom has been one of the biggest home stay on Wall Street winners, with usage, sales, and stock price spikes over the past year. However, the company’s stock has been struggling since October when it hit an all-time high of $ 588.84. Its stocks were lower about 2% in the pre-trading session, trading at around $ 355 each.
California-based Five9, which ended Friday with a market cap of nearly $ 12 billion, is a cloud contact center software provider. In a press release, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said that Five9 is “a natural fit that adds even more joy and value to our customers.”
4. Bill Ackman’s SPAC scrap deal to purchase 10% of Universal Music
Bill Ackman, Founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, a special purpose vehicle backed by Bill Ackerman, announced Monday that it no longer plans to buy 10% of Vivendi’s Universal Music Group. According to a letter to shareholders after talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SPAC board of directors unanimously decided against the approximately 4 billion US dollar deal. When announced early last month, the proposed SPAC transaction was remarkable not only for its size, but also for its multi-part structure. In the letter, Ackman noted that Pershing Square Tontine Holdings’ stock has fallen about 18% since the deal was announced. “We underestimated the reaction of some of our shareholders to the complexity and structure of the transaction,” said the multi-billion dollar investor. Ackman’s hedge fund is now planning to invest in Universal Music Group. “Our opponent was not left at the altar,” says the letter.
Programming Note: Bill Ackman will appear on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” around 8:00 PM ET.
5. England lifts most Covid restrictions; Toyota turns on Olympic TV spots
Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives an update on the Coronavirus-Covid-19 pandemic during a virtual press conference at 10 Downing Street on March 18, 2021 in London, England.
Tolga Akmen – WPA Pool | Getty Images
Almost all remaining Covid restrictions in England were lifted on Monday, although coronavirus cases are increasing across the UK. “Please, please, please be careful,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement. Johnson had already delayed England lifting most of its Covid restrictions because the highly transmissible Delta variant that health experts around the world have warned could undo advances in fighting the pandemic.
The upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo are also still affected by Covid, with American tennis star Coco Gauff withdrawing from the summer games due to a positive coronavirus test. The Olympic Games, postponed by a year because of Covid, are highly controversial in Japan. In a reflection of public opinion, Japanese automaker Toyota will not broadcast an Olympic advertisement on the country’s television during the Games. Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda and other company executives will also not attend the opening ceremony, which is scheduled for Friday.
In the US, the seven-day average of daily new coronavirus cases is nearly 32,300, 66% more than a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. “The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated,” President Joe Biden said recently.
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics holds the U.S. broadcast rights to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow the whole market like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with coronavirus coverage from CNBC.
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