1. Dow set to jump as investors hope for additional economic stimulus
Dow futures pointed to a nearly 100 point gain at Monday's open as investors held out hope that lawmakers and the White House might finally break their deadlock and agree on a new package of coronavirus economic relief. However, rising Covid-19 cases capped those gains. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell makes a virtual appearance at the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting Monday morning, but he's expected to talk about cross-border payments rather than monetary policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 on Friday ended three-session losing streaks but gave up most of their gains in the final hour of trading as tech stocks sold off. The Nasdaq closed modestly lower for its fourth negative session in a row. However, the Nasdaq ended the week with the strongest gain of 0.8%. The Dow and S&P 500 were slightly positive for the week. As of Friday's close, all three benchmarks were about 3% away from their records. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit all-highs on Sept. 2. The Dow's last record was Feb. 12.
As the U.S. and many economies around the world continue to struggle under the weight of the pandemic, China's economy grew 4.9% year over year in the third quarter after an advance of 3.2% in the second quarter. China's gross domestic product contracted 6.8% in the first quarter as Covid-19 lockdowns and mitigation efforts slammed the door on the economy. The coronavirus emerged in China late last year.
2. Pelosi sets deadline for Covid-19 stimulus before next month's election
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are expected to talk Monday after failing to come to an agreement on stimulus over the weekend. After negotiations Saturday, the California Democrat set a 48-hour deadline to reach a deal before the Nov. 3 election, saying the deadline has to do with lawmakers' ability get things done in that time frame. The GOP-controlled Senate, which is nowhere near the latest $2.2 trillion House bill, plans to vote on a $500 billion coronavirus stimulus bill Wednesday. Senate Democrats blocked a bill of that size last month. The White House has offered to go as high as $1.8 trillion.
3. Global coronavirus cases top 40 million as daily infections surge in Europe and U.S.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world topped 40 million on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, at a time when Europe and the U.S. are seeing new waves of infections. When adjusting for population, new daily cases in Europe have now exceeded those in the United States. Europe reported 187 infections per million people, based on a seven-day average, compared with 162 per million people in the U.S.
In the U.S., coronavirus cases grew by 5% or more in 38 states, as of Friday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins that uses a weekly average to smooth out the reporting. The nation is averaging roughly 55,000 new cases every day, a more than 16% increase compared with a week ago.
4. CVS wants to hire 15,000 people to prepare for fall and winter
CVS Health said Monday it wants to immediately hire 15,000 employees to prepare for an expected rise in coronavirus cases and the seasonal flu this fall and winter. More than two-thirds of those new workers will be licensed pharmacy technicians who can help dispense medications and administer Covid-19 tests. The larger workforce could also help CVS prepare for the rollout of a Covid vaccine or vaccines if they were to get approval. Federal officials will need to authorize companies like CVS to administer the vaccines under the supervision of an immunization-certified pharmacist.
5. New developments on vaccine candidates from AstraZeneca and Pfizer
In the race for a coronavirus vaccine, Britain's National Health Service is preparing for a possible mass rollout of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University candidate soon after Christmas, according to The Times of London. The British government this weekend expanded the number of health-care workers able to give people shots.
The U.K.'s Daily Mail published a video showing "several hundred thousand doses" of U.S.-based Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine candidate rolling off the production line at a manufacturing plant in Belgium. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech are running late-stage trials. They hope to make 100 million doses available this year.
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