Wall Street set to open higher
U.S. stock futures were trading higher early Monday as traders continued to bet on a successful reopening of the economy, despite an alarming surge in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the country.
As of 5:20 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 228 points, or 1.13% to 25,815. The S&P 500 futures advanced 34.38 points, or 1.12% to 3,093.88 while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 106.38 points, or 1.07% to 10,029.88.
New York City is scheduled to enter a much larger reopening phase today, allowing thousands of businesses to welcome back employees for the first time since March. Roughly 150,000 to 300,000 residents are expected to go back to work, according to the city’s estimates.
The U.S reported more than 30,000 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, the highest number of confirmed one-day infections since May 1, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Florida, Arizona, South Carolina, Nevada and California reported record-high single-day infections on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reported more than 183,000 new global infections on Sunday, the largest one-day rise by the group’s count.
Apple’s WWDC 2020 on watch
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)’s annual developer conference, WWDC, will kick off with a video presentation from Apple Park headquarters today at 1:00 p.m. ET. It is the first time the iPhone maker is hosting an online-only WWDC, a decision it made because of COVID-19 concerns.
Apple is expected to make major announcements about its software and hardware, as well as its roadmap for its apps and services business. Bloomberg News says that one of the biggest announcements set to be made at the event is its decision to move away from Intel chips for Mac computers. It is also widely expected to introduce the first beta version of iOS 14 to developers.
You can stream the event via Apple’s homepage, Apple’s developer app and website, and Apple Events app on Apple TV starting at 1:00 p.m. ET. Apple shares were little changed in pre-market trade.
Gap stock rallies after analyst upgrade
In other news, shares of Gap (NYSE: GPS) rose 6.29% to $11.33 apiece during Monday’s pre-market trade after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Overweight from Underweight with a price target of $19 per share.
Analyst Ike Boruchow believes that Gap’s “fundamental struggles are now well-appreciated by the market.” However, Boruchow says there are two compelling value unlocks his team sees as under-appreciated.
“In conjunction with GPS’s recent ABL debt transaction, the company disclosed real estate value of $1.9B (San Fran HQ, 4 DCs). 2) Athleta (the highest margin and fastest growing concept in the portfolio) is under appreciated; even though athleisure has clearly accelerated due to the pandemic, this has not translated into a value appreciation for the Athleta brand within GPS,” Boruchow said.
