Stock market news live updates: Stock futures point to a higher open; Moderna, Tesla shares extend gains – Yahoo Finance

Posted on August 12, 2020

Stock futures jumped Wednesday morning, with the three major indices looking to shake off Tuesday’s declines.

Shares of Moderna (MRNA) held onto gains of more than 10% in pre-market trading, after the company announced a deal to supply the US government with 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate currently in late-stage human trials. Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock (TSLA) rose about 7% after the company announced a five-for-one stock split, with the stock having closed at well over $1,300 per share earlier Tuesday.

Stocks’ drop on Tuesday – the first for the S&P 500 and Dow in eight sessions – came as prospects for a near-term virus relief package from Congress dimmed. Primary negotiators including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have not met since Friday to discuss a new package, with lawmakers still deeply divided on the amount of aid to be unleashed to state and local governments.

Other national developments also added to a risk-off mood Tuesday afternoon. The Big Ten Conference and Pac-12 each announced that they would be postponing their fall sports seasons as concerns over the ongoing coronavirus pandemic abounded, following days of speculation over the fate of one of the big revenue drivers for major universities.

“Having college football in the fall is a sign of normalcy returning,” Jim Bianco, Bianco Research President and CEO, told Yahoo Finance during “The Final Round” on Tuesday.

The season’s postponement “is an indication to everybody in those neighborhoods, or those states, that things have not returned to normal yet,” Bianco said. “The big one in college football is the SEC, from Florida to Arkansas, all the way to South Carolina and Clemson – they haven’t said anything. But I think if they were to delay to the spring as well, that could actually bleed into the election, too. You’d be telling everybody in that important place for voting, it ain’t ready yet. It ain’t right yet.”

Elsewhere, earnings season continues Wednesday with a relatively light slate of companies set to report, including Lyft (LYFT), Tencent (0700.HK) and Cisco (CSCO).

—

8:30 a.m. ET: Consumer prices rise more than expected in July as energy prices advance; food prices fall for the first time in more than a year

An index tracking changes in consumer prices jumped more than expected in July, pointing to firming inflationary trends as energy prices extended their march higher.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.6% in July to match June’s pace of increase. Consensus economists had expected a deceleration to a 0.3% month over month gain, according to Bloomberg data.

Excluding more volatile food and energy prices, the CPI increased 0.6% over last month, or three times the 0.2% rise expected. This core measure of underlying consumer price trends rose 1.6% in July over last year, or more than the 1.1% increase expected.

The food index in July fell 0.4% after a rise of 0.6% in June for its first decrease since April 2019, led by a 1.1% decline in prices for food at home. The energy index rose 2.5% after an increase of 5.1%.

—