U.S. stocks poised to open slightly lower
Wall Street looks set to open with slight losses on Friday following a rebound in the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, which climbed to 1.611% as volatility hit the bond market again. The 30-year Treasury yield rose to 2.348%.
By 5:30 a.m. ET, futures tied to the technology-dominated Nasdaq 100 futures plunged 243.13 points, or 1.86% to 12,805.12. S&P 500 futures gave away 24.13 points, or 0.61% to 3,912.62 while the blue-chip Dow futures were little changed.
Biden signs Covid-19 stimulus bill
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has signed his sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill into law. The legislation includes $1,400 direct checks, an extension of unemployment benefits, and a child tax credit that is expected to help millions of poor families.
Biden, who signed the legislation on Thursday afternoon, also said he is working to speed vaccinations and move the nation closer to normality by July 4.
“If we all do our part, this country will be vaccinated soon, our economy will be on the mend, our kids will be back in school, and we’ll have proven once again that this country can do anything,” the president said during the signing of the bill at the White House.
Novavax soars after reporting that its Covid-19 vaccine is 96%
Shares in Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) popped in the pre-market session Friday after the company announced late Thursday that its experimental vaccine is more than 96% effective in preventing mild, moderate and severe disease caused by the original Covid-19 virus.
However, the Maryland-based biotech company said the vaccine was 86% effective against the more contagious virus variant that was first discovered in the United Kingdom and 55% effective against the variant first discovered in South Africa.
As of this writing, the stock was indicated $38.00, or 20.25% to $225.63 a share in pre-market trading.
