Morning Brief

What to watch today: Dow set for lower open after 580-point surge

BY THE NUMBERS

Dow futures were pointing to a decline at Tuesday's open after starting the week with a gain of 580 points or 2.3%, in a continuation of the ups and downs on Wall Street. Investors are trying to gauge whether the surge in coronavirus cases in South and West will derail the market's comeback and the nascent economic recovery. (CNBC)

Ahead of the last trading day in June and the second quarter, the Dow was on track for an almost 16.8% quarterly advance, which would be the best quarter since Q4 1998. The Dow was pacing for a nearly 1% increase in June, which would be the third straight positive month. However, year to date, the Dow was still down 10% as of Monday's close. (CNBC)

On today's economic calendar, the S&P/Case-Shiller's April report on home prices showed a better-than-expected 4.7% increase. The Chicago purchasing managers index for June is issued at 9:45 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's June consumer confidence Index is released at 10 a.m. ET. (CNBC)

In prepared remarks for Tuesday afternoon's House Financial Services Committee hearing, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said big questions remain over the outlook for the economy, particularly in light of ongoing efforts to contain the pandemic. (CNBC)

Nearly all of the largest U.S. banks said Monday they performed well enough on the Fed's most-recent stress test to maintain their current quarterly dividends. However, Wells Fargo said the Fed's assessment of its business will warrant a reduction to its quarterly payout. (CNBC)

AMC is pushing back the reopening date for its theaters to July 30. Previously, the company had planned on starting to reopen theaters in mid-July in time for the releases of "Tenet" and "Mulan," both of which have been delayed into August. (CNBC)

IN THE NEWS TODAY

White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and top U.S. health agency leaders are set to testify Tuesday morning before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, one day after a CDC official said  the coronavirus is spreading too rapidly and too broadly for the U.S. to bring it under control. (CNBC)

The head of the World Health Organization said that despite progress in many countries "globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up" and "the worst is yet to come" as many nations and world leaders remain divided on how to combat the virus. Total worldwide cases now number more than 10.3 million, including over 505,500 deaths. A quarter of the infections and fatalities were in the U.S. (CNBC)

* New strain of flu found in China has potential to become a pandemic, scientists warn (CNBC)

More U.S. governors are walking back or delaying reopening plans. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday shut down bars, movie theaters, gyms and water parks. Arizona is not alone in its reversal. States including Texas, Florida and California are backtracking, closing beaches and bars in some cases. (AP)

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced the state will delay a resumption of indoor dining that was planned for Thursday. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that shopping malls in the state will be required to have virus-filtering air conditioning systems in place in order to reopen. (CNBC)

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly are ordering people to wear masks or face coverings when social distancing cannot be maintained. The city of Jacksonville, Florida, where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August, is also implementing a face-covering order. (AP)

* Goldman Sachs says a national mask mandate could slash infections and save economy from a 5% hit (CNBC)

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden told potential donors to his campaign that his administration would end most of President Donald Trump's multitrillion-dollar tax cuts, even though "a lot of you may not like that." (CNBC)

Trump and the White House knew earlier than was previously reported about alleged Russian bounties offered to Afghan militants to kill American service members, according to new reports Monday night. Trump and the White House have denied that the president had been briefed on the intelligence assessment regarding the Russian bounties.

* Carl Bernstein: Trump's phone calls with foreign leaders alarm U.S. officials (CNN)

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative nominated by President George W. Bush who has led the court for nearly 15 years, has joined his liberal colleagues three major rulings, including Monday's decision to strike down a Louisiana law that restricted abortion providers. (AP)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has signed the Hong Kong national security law, state media reported Tuesday. Few details have been unveiled, but Beijing said the legislation is aimed at prohibiting secession, subversion of state power, terrorism activities and foreign interference. When the law was proposed last month, it reignited protests in Hong Kong. (CNBC)

U.S. food delivery service Postmates has received acquisition offers from Uber (UBER) and a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, as it simultaneously makes plans to go public, according to people familiar with the matter. (CNBC)

* Lululemon to buy home fitness start-up Mirror for $500 million (Reuters)

STOCKS TO WATCH

Food producer Conagra Brands (CAG) reported quarterly profit of 75 cents per share, 9 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also exceeded consensus and Conagra gave a current-quarter earnings forecast range that largely exceeds estimates as the pandemic helps spur a surge in demand.

Micron Technology (MU) beat estimates by 5 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of 82 cents per share. The chip maker's revenue also beat forecasts and Micron gave upbeat revenue guidance as stay-at-home workers and students boosted demand for its computer and data center chips.

Simon Property Group (SPG) said it would reopen its five remaining closed retail properties within the next week. The mall operator also said many of its tenants have reported higher than expected sales since reopening their doors.

Apple's (AAPL) 5G iPhone shipments in 2020 may be much weaker than expected, according to sources who spoke to DigiTimes. Those sources put current estimates at 15 million to 20 million units this year compared to a prior forecast of 30 million to 40 million.

Xilinx (XLNX) raised its fiscal first-quarter revenue guidance, with the specialty chipmaker saying its business had been helped by the loosening of restrictions on sales to Chinese companies.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) will take a $22 billion writedown on the value of its assets after the energy producer slashed its oil and gas price outlook.

Norwegian Air canceled orders for 97 Boeing (BA) 737 Max and 787 jets, and plans to seek compensation for the grounding of the 737 and engine troubles related to the 787.

Herman Miller (MLHR), the office furniture maker, reported a quarterly profit of 11 cents per share, compared to consensus forecasts of a loss of 10 cents per share. Revenue was short of Wall Street forecasts, however, as sales fell 29% from a year earlier amid the Covid-19 pandemic.