Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Stock futures mixed after the Dow, S&P 500 closed at record highs again
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
NYSE
2. Fed expected to start March meeting with policies under scrutiny
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing in Capitol Hill, Washington, December 1, 2020.
Al Drago | Pool | Reuters
The Federal Reserve, which begins its two-day meeting in March on Tuesday, will look at bond yields and the latest readings on retail sales. Economists expect government data for February to show a 0.4% increase in retail sales, after a 5.3% increase in January. With the Fed’s extraordinarily easy monetary measures during Covid under scrutiny, the country’s central bank is expected to release new economic and interest rate forecasts on Wednesday afternoon along with its policy statement.
3. Moderna studies Covid vaccine in children; more countries stop AstraZeneca
Moderna began testing its Covid vaccine on children aged 6 months to less than 12 years. The intermediate to advanced internship study aims to enroll about 6,750 children in the United States and Canada. In another study, started in December, Moderna also tests its vaccine on teenagers between 12 and 18 years old. The double vaccine has already been authorized for emergency use in Americans aged 18 and over.
Sweden and Latvia joined on Tuesday a growing list of European nations suspending the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine, while health regulators proceed with a new review of its side effects after reports of blood clots. Germany, France, Italy and Spain said on Monday that everyone would stop running it. However, the World Health Organization and Europe’s drug regulator have recommended that countries continue to use the AstraZeneca two-dose regimen.
4. Regulators investigating Tesla’s ‘violent’ accident; The autopilot has not yet been discarded
A driver drives hands-free in a Tesla Motors Inc. Model S vehicle equipped with Autopilot hardware and software in New York.
Christopher Goodney | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating what it calls a “violent” accident involving a Tesla sedan and a tractor trailer last week in Detroit. Authorities have not yet said whether the electric car maker’s Autopilot, Full Self-Driving or FSD beta may have contributed to the accident. NHTSA had already embarked on investigations into more than a dozen crashes that were thought to involve Tesla’s advanced driver assistance systems.
5. Purdue, maker of OxyContin, proposes a $ 10 billion plan to get out of bankruptcy
80 mg tablets of OxyContin.
Liz O. Baylen | Getty Images
Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, is proposing a $ 10 billion plan to get out of bankruptcy protection. These efforts would include a significant increase, more than $ 4 billion, in members of the Sackler family who own the Connecticut-based company. Court documents show that Purdue employees continued to press to maintain sales of OxyContin, even when it became clear that the drug was being abused. Complicated disputes are taking place in courts across the country in efforts to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable for the country’s opioid crisis.
– Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Get the latest pandemic news with CNBC coronavirus blog.