5 things to know before the stock market opened on February 26, 2021

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

U.S. stock futures were choppy as tech stocks tried to bounce back from Thursday’s defeat, which pulled Nasdaq down 3.5% on its worst single-day performance since October. Tesla fell slightly again on Friday’s pre-market, the day after sinking 8% in a brutal week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday sank 559 points, or 1.8%, from a record high close in the previous session. The Dow Jones had its worst day in almost a month, as did the S&P 500, which lost almost 2.5%. The culprit behind the sale was the rapid increase in bond yields.

All three stock benchmarks were tracking weekly losses. Before the last day of trading in February, Nasdaq held on to a gain for the month, which started off strong. The Nasdaq fell almost 7% from the February 12 closing record. The Dow and S&P 500 remain solidly green for the month. However, the S&P 500 fell by almost 2.7% from the last record high, also on February 12.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell on Friday morning, but remained above 1.4%, after rising to 1.6% in the previous session to its highest level since February 2020 and more than 0.5% highest since the end of January. The 10-year increase in income, which is used as a benchmark for mortgage and auto loan rates, was driven by expectations of improved economic conditions with the launch of coronavirus vaccines, as well as fears of higher inflation.

A new round of government stimulus checks, approved in December, raised personal income to the biggest monthly gain since April 2020, although inflation remained weak. The Commerce Department reported Friday morning that personal income increased 10% in January, slightly exceeding expectations. Inflation for personal consumption expenditure corresponded to estimates of 1.5%.

Inflation concerns are fueled by the idea that Covid’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus bill – which will be approved by the House on Friday – in addition to accelerating growth could overheat the economy. Capitol Democrats are trying to push their relief measure, including raising the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, without the support of the Republican Party. However, a leading nonpartisan official, the Senate parliamentarian, decided that Democrats cannot include raising the minimum wage in the bill. The decision means that the Senate is likely to approve a different version of the bill than the House, and deputies will have to approve the plan a second time.

A senior FDA advisory panel is expected to vote on Friday over Johnson & Johnson’s recommendation to approve the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine for emergency use, which would help pave the way for a third preventive treatment in the U.S. Although the full FDA does not have to follow the vaccine committee’s recommendations, it usually does. During similar vaccine requests by Pfizer and Moderna, the FDA authorized the two-dose regimens from these companies the day after the panel of external medical consultants supported the emergency use authorization.

As more and more Americans are vaccinated and the economy continues to open up more fully, companies like DoorDash, which has benefited from the stay-at-home trade, could be hurt. In its first report as a publicly traded company, the food delivery service told shareholders that it expects some of the favorable winds it has experienced with home stay requests in the U.S. to change once the country has the virus under control. . Shares plunged 10% in Friday’s pre-market. Even with that drop, DoorDash would still be almost 50% above its $ 102 offer price per share in December. Although DoorDash on Thursday reported $ 970 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, which exceeded estimates, it also reported an adjusted loss per share of $ 2.67.

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