Stocks set for mixed start
U.S. stock futures traded mixed on Monday ahead of the busiest week of fourth-quarter earnings season.
By 7:05 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow were down 60 points, or 0.19% to 30,849. Those for the S&P 500 gained 7.63 points, or 0.2% to 3,841.88 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 121.5 points, or 0.91% to 13,483.
Traders are gearing up for the busiest week of fourth-quarter earnings season. Thirteen of the 30 Dow Industrial companies are set to report, along with 111 companies in the S&P 500.
Among the companies reporting during the week will be Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Boeing (NYSE: BA), and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).
Merck scraps development of its coronavirus vaccines
Merck (NYSE: MRK) announced early Monday it would end the development of its two experimental vaccines for Covid-19 after data from early clinical trials showed an “inferior” immune response.
The drugmaker said in a statement the data showed that both vaccines were generally well tolerated, but they generated immune responses that were inferior to those seen in people who had recovered from the virus and those reported for other coronavirus vaccines.
Nick Kartsonis, senior vice president of clinical research for infectious diseases and vaccines at Merck Research Laboratories said the results were “disappointing, and a bit of a surprise.” The company now plans to focus on its potential drugs for treating coronavirus.
Merck dropped 1.11% to $80.08 each in the pre-market trading session.
Biden set to sign “Buy American” order today
President Joe Biden is slated to sign a new executive order on Monday to require the federal government to “buy American” for products and services, as part of his commitment to increase investments in U.S. manufacturing and workers.
The plan, which Biden campaigned on last year, would invest $300 billion into the manufacturing and technology practices of U.S. companies, and set aside $400 billion for government purchases of U.S.-made products and services.
Biden has already announced a number of executive orders through his early days as president, including directives to address the coronavirus pandemic, end Trump’s travel ban on a handful of Muslim-majority countries, and rejoin the Paris climate agreement.
