Stocks are higher at midday after a report that the U.S. is contemplating a $1T infrastructure program and retail sales saw a record bounce in May. Tempering some of the enthusiasm, though, are reports of virus increases in Texas and Florida, among other emerging hotspots in the U.S., along with headlines that Beijing will shut all of its schools due to a COVID resurgence.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In U.S. data, retail sales bounced a record 17.7% in May, with sales excluding autos jumping 12.4%, nearly double expectations. Industrial production rebounded 1.4% in May, shy of expectations.
In his semiannual monetary policy report to congress, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said some recent indicators have pointed to a stabilization, and in some areas a modest rebound, in economic activity. "That said, the levels of output and employment remain far below their pre-pandemic levels, and significant uncertainty remains about the timing and strength of the recovery. Much of that economic uncertainty comes from uncertainty about the path of the disease and the effects of measures to contain it. Until the public is confident that the disease is contained, a full recovery is unlikely," Powell added in his prepared remarks.
In Asia, the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy settings unchanged, but expanded its special lending program.
In other COVID-19 news, dexamethasone, a "cheap and widely available drug," cut the risk of death by a third for COVID-19 patients on ventilators, according to a trial lead by a team from Oxford University, reported BBC News and other media outlets.
TOP NEWS: The European Commission this morning said it has opened formal antitrust investigations to assess whether Apple's (AAPL) rules for app developers on the distribution of apps via the App Store violate EU competition rules. The investigations concern the mandatory use of Apple's own proprietary in-app purchase system and restrictions on the ability of developers to inform iPhone and iPad users of alternative cheaper purchasing possibilities outside of apps, the agency said. The investigations follow-up on separate complaints by Spotify (SPOT) and by an e-book/audiobook distributor on the impact of the App Store rules on competition in music streaming and e-books/audiobooks, noted the Commission.
Meanwhile, Citi analyst Jim Suva raised the firm's price target on Apple to $400 from $310 and reiterates a Buy rating on the shares. Despite the recent stock price, he sees five reasons that Apple shares could trade higher, including the upcoming 5G iPhone launch.
Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) are 15% higher near noon following this morning's positive monarchE study results. Eli Lilly announced Verzenio in combination with standard adjuvant endocrine therapy met the primary endpoint of invasive disease-free survival, or IDFS, significantly decreasing the risk of breast cancer recurrence or death compared to standard adjuvant ET alone. Following the news, Guggenheim analyst Seamus Fernandez upgraded Eli Lilly to Buy from Neutral with an $182 price target, calling the early success of monarchE likely "a transformational event" for Lilly.
Shares of McDonald's (MCD) are up fractionally at midday after the fast food giant issued an update on its same-store sales trends through April and May. After McDonald's reported U.S. same-store sales were down 19% in April and down 5% in May for a quarter-to-date decline of 12%, Stephens analyst James Rutherford noted that even if the May trend just held constant into June, the Q2 domestic comp would be down 7%, which compares to the consensus forecast for a 14% decline.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was iQIYI (IQ), which jumped 25% after Reuters reported that Tencent (TCEHY) wants to become the company's biggest shareholder. Also higher was WW (WW), which gained 17% after reporting 4.9M subscribers as of June 6, up 7% from June 8, 2019.
Among the notable losers was Axon Enterprise (AAXN), which slid 4% after it announced an offering of 3M shares of common stock. Also lower was Tata Motors (TTM), which fell 5% after JPMorgan analyst Gunjan Prithyani downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 516.86, or 2.01%, to 26,280.02, the Nasdaq was up 158.94, or 1.63%, to 9,884.97 , and the S&P 500 was up 57.32, or 1.87%, to 3,123.91 .
WW
+4.15 (+16.44%)
Symbol AXON
-5.24 (-5.22%)
Tata Motors
-0.36 (-5.37%)
Tencent
+ (+0.00%)
iQiyi
+4.67 (+24.39%)
McDonald's
+0.33 (+0.17%)
Eli Lilly
+21.04 (+14.87%)
Apple
+6.41 (+1.87%)