Futures point to gains
U.S. stock futures were pointing to modest gains on Friday, one day after a severe tech-focused selloff that was triggered by a spike in global bond yields.
By 5:10 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow pointed to gains of 56 points, or 0.17% to 32,821. S&P 500 futures climbed 14.12 points, or 0.36% to 3,920.12 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 95.87 points, or 0.75% to 12,875.62.
Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury moved down to 1.687% after finishing at 1.730% on Thursday, its highest mark since January last year.
The Nasdaq tumbled 3.0% on Thursday, its worst loss since late October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the session down 0.46%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.45%.
U.S.-China hold first high-level talks under Biden
Top U.S. and Chinese officials publicly clashed at the kick off of their first face-to-face talks since President Joe Biden took office.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the opening of the two-day meeting in Anchorage, Alaska that China’s actions “threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability.”
The Chinese team hit back by accusing the U.S. of using its military force and financial might to suppress other nations.
Tensions between the U.S. and China are still high following a trade war and issues surrounding Hong Kong, technology, cyberattacks, and defense.
Chubb bids $23 billion for Hartford
Property and casualty insurer Chubb (NYSE: CB) has submitted a proposal to acquire rival carrier Hartford (NYSE: HIG) for $65 per share. That represents a 13.2% premium to the $57.41 closing price of Hartford stock on Wednesday, valuing the company at $23.24 billion.
Chubb said Thursday without providing exact details that the offer was mostly cash and some stock. Earlier in the day, Hartford announced it received a takeover proposal from Chubb, but did not reveal exact details of the bid.
If successful, the deal would be the biggest in the industry since Aon (NYSE: AON) acquired Willis Towers Watson for $30 billion in 2020.
European nations resume AstraZeneca vaccinations
France, Germany, Spain and Italy said they would resume using the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN) and Oxford University after the European Medicines Agency said there was a clear scientific conclusion that the shot was safe and effective.
The agency said yesterday that its investigation had concluded that the vaccine does not increase the chances of blood clots and that its benefits outweigh the possible risks.
Several countries around the world had halted their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over the past week amid reports of blot clots in a some of the people across Europe who have received the shot.
