Here are the top news, trends, and analysis investors need to get their trading day started:
1. Dow looks for consecutive gains after last week’s decline
People have a snowball fight outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during a snow storm in New York on February 1, 2021.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The Dow is expected to climb more than 200 points when it opens on Tuesday and is expected to see a second day of gains after falling nearly 3.3% last week. The average 30-share Monday reclaimed 229 points off Friday’s 620-point drop as Wall Street appeared to be shaking off concerns over the speculative retail craze that largely sparked the market’s worst weekly sell-off since October.
With gains on Monday, the Dow and S&P 500 were again positive for 2021 and joined the Nasdaq. However, the three benchmarks stayed below last month’s record highs, with the Dow over 3% and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq about 2% away. Google parents Alphabet and Amazon will show quarterly results after the closing bell on Tuesday.
2. GameStop’s decline accelerates as Robinhood raises more money
The GameStop logo can be seen in one of their stores in Emeryville.
SOPA pictures | LightRocket | Getty Images
GameStop continued to lose ground in premarket trading on Tuesday. The volatile retail investor’s shares fell 40% to around $ 133. The fall follows a decline of more than 30% during Monday’s regular market session after rising 400% last week, which saw stocks hit as much as $ 483. Ahead of Tuesday’s opening, the stock had gained more than 1,000% in 2021 as users of Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum talked about the video game retailer, killing short sellers betting against the brick and mortar company.
Robinhood, an online broker, announced that it has raised an additional $ 2.4 billion from investors to weather the extreme market volatility caused by the trading frenzy at GameStop and other sharply shortened stocks. The $ 3.4 billion mobilized since Thursday exceeds the total funding amount since its inception in 2013.
3. Pfizer increases full year guidance after a mixed quarter
The Pfizer vaccine will be made when the ballpark opens as a public vaccination site for COVID-19 coronavirus pandemics on January 29, 2021 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
Billie Weiss | Boston Red Sox | Getty Images
Pfizer reported mixed quarterly results and expects to sell approximately $ 15 billion in coronavirus vaccine doses this year. The adjusted earnings for the fourth quarter of 42 cents per share were 6 cents below expectations. Revenue for the fourth quarter rose 12% to $ 11.68 billion, beating estimates. Pfizer also raised its guidance for the full year. The stocks in the pre-market were flat. Pfizer expects to ship 200 million doses of its two-shot vaccine to the US by the end of July.
4. Democrats try to do Biden’s Covid aid package alone
Republican Senators watch during a meeting with United States President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is not pictured, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, United States, on February 1, 2021 about the State Aid Act Discuss coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Tom Brenner | Reuters
Democratic Congress leaders took the first step towards passing comprehensive coronavirus support law without GOP support when President Joe Biden listened to a much smaller Republican plan on Monday. Republican lawmakers on Sunday tabled a $ 618 billion counteroffer to Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion bailout. The GOP proposal would send a lesser direct payment of $ 1,000 to many Americans, and extend a lesser increase in unemployment benefit by $ 300 per week and only through June 30th. Biden left the door open to pass a Republican-free bill when he can’t reach a bipartisan deal.
5. CDC requires face masks on airlines and public transportation
Travelers pass through Miami International Airport on February 1, 2021 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Travelers on airplanes and public transport must wear face masks from Tuesday. To curb the spread of Covid, the CDC issued the rule on wearing masks late Friday, building on executive action announced by Biden on Jan. 21. Enforcement, which could include fines, is carried out by the TSA and other federal, state and federal agencies. The order extends to waiting areas such as airports, train platforms and subway stations. Airlines already require masks and have banned more than 2,000 passengers for refusing to wear one.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow all developments on Wall Street in real time with CNBC Pro’s live market blog. Find out about the latest pandemics on our coronavirus blog.
