5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday
by Matthew J. Belvedere1. Wall Street set for a recovery after a rough week
U.S. stock futures jumped Monday after the Nasdaq finished a volatile week lower. Heading into Monday, the Nasdaq was off just under 10% from its closing record on Sept. 2. The S&P 500, which eked out a slight gain Friday, was 6.7% below its closing record on Sept. 2. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which soared nearly 300 points and fell 86 points during Friday's session, finished 131 points, or 0.5%, higher. Unlike the Nasdaq and S&P 500, the Dow never hit record highs in its rally off its March coronavirus lows. The 30-stock benchmark remained 6.4% away from its Feb. 12 closing record high.
Shares of Delta Air Lines rose in the premarket after the carrier said Monday it would borrow $6.5 billion backed by its frequent-flyer program to shore up liquidity during the coronavirus crisis. United and American have made similar plans.
Shares of Apple were higher in the premarket after closing lower Friday. The stock lost 7% last week. Apple is expected to release the Apple Watch Series 6 and a refreshed iPad Air at its online event Tuesday. Apple typically unveils its new iPhones during an event at its Cupertino, California headquarters in September, but this year, that may happen later since Apple advised during its earnings that the iPhone was delayed a few weeks.
The Federal Reserve begins its two-day September meeting on Tuesday. The Fed releases its policy statement on Wednesday afternoon followed by a news conference from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Minor tweaks are seen. Central bankers also update their outlook on the economy and interest rates, including forecasts for 2023 for the first time.
2. Oracle shares surge on expected TikTok deal
Facing a White House-imposed deadline to sell its TikTok assets in the U.S. by next Sunday or face a ban, Beijing-based ByteDance is poised to choose Oracle as its American technology partner. Shares of Oracle were up about 9% in Monday's premarket, one day after Microsoft said ByteDance didn't pick its offer. "We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok's users, while protecting national security interests," said Microsoft, whose shares were steady Monday. TikTok declined to comment. Oracle did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.
3. Nvida, Gilead each announce multibillion-dollar buyouts
Shares of Nvidia, already a double in 2020, rose over 6% in premarket trading after Japan's SoftBank agreed to sell U.K.-based Arm to the Silicon Valley graphics and artificial intelligence powerhouse. However, the co-founder of Arm — which makes chips for leading smartphones, including the iPhone — called the $40 billion deal "an absolute disaster for Cambridge, the U.K., and Europe."
Shares of New Jersey-based Immunomedics, up 100% in 2020, were set to double again at Monday's open after Gilead agreed to buy the cancer drug maker. The $21 billion deal gives Gilead access to Trodelvy, a FDA-approved treatment for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Gilead is working on an inhaled version of remdesivir, its antiviral drug approved for emergency use on Covid-19.
4. Pfizer, AstraZeneca out with developments on vaccine trials
Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine could be distributed to Americans before the end of the year if it's found to be safe and effective, according to CEO Albert Bourla. The U.S. pharmaceutical giant has been working alongside German drugmaker BioNTech. Both stocks were higher in Monday's premarket. Pfizer on Saturday submitted a proposal to the FDA to expand its late-stage trial to include up to 44,000 participants, a third more than its previous target.
Shares of AstraZeneca were up in the premarket after phase three trials for the company's coronavirus vaccine resumed in the U.K. Last week, the trials were halted over safety concerns. AstraZeneca declined to disclose medical information about the pause, but indicated a potentially unexplained illness was under investigation.
5. Trump to visit California after Nevada indoor rally
President Donald Trump, who is expected to visit the wildfire-ravaged Democratic-stronghold of California on Monday, defied Nevada officials and held an indoor rally Sunday night outside Las Vegas. The Associated Press reported that relatively few people in the crowd wore masks, except those behind Trump. It was Trump's first major indoor event since June's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which had been blamed for a surge of infections in that region. The pandemic in the U.S. has infected more than 6.5 million people, killing nearly 200,000.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.