1. Dow tracks for first five-session losing streak since January
U.S. stock futures fell sharply Friday as the Dow looked to be set up for its first five-session losing streak since January. Dow futures sank 300 points. Thursday was the second 200-point-plus down day in a row following the Federal Reserve meeting. As of Thursday’s close, the 30-stock average was off nearly 2% for the week. The S&P 500, tracking for a more modest weekly decline, fell Thursday for the third straight session. The Nasdaq bucked Thursday’s down trend, adding nearly 0.9% and breaking a two-session losing streak. The Nasdaq was within just 13 points of Monday’s record close. The S&P 500 was less than 1% from its record close Monday. The Dow was more than 2.7% from its latest record close in early May.
Traders at the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: NYSE
2. 10-year yield continues to bounce around after Fed-driven spike
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, December 1, 2020.
Al Drago | Pool | Reuters
The 10-year Treasury yield to fluctuate after Wednesday’s Fed-driven spike to nearly 1.6%, trading Friday around 1.5%. Yields drifted lower despite rising inflation expectations from the Fed. The central bank on Wednesday afternoon also signaled two interest rate hikes in 2023. In March, policymakers said they saw no increases until at least 2024. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said he’s willing to let inflation run above the Fed’s traditional 2% target rate before adjusting policy in order to allow the economy more room to recover from the depths of the Covid pandemic.
3. Many commodities bounce one day after falling sharply
Many commodities bounced Friday, one day after falling sharply as China started to take steps to cool off rising prices. Those declines cut into months of gains and weighed on stocks. On Thursday, the drops in commodities were widespread, with platinum futures falling more than 11%, along with declines of nearly 6% in corn futures and 4.8% in copper futures.
A Chinese government agency announced a plan Wednesday to release some of its reserves of key metals. Commodities often move inversely to the dollar since they are mostly priced globally in the U.S. currency, which has been strengthening since this week’s Fed decisions.
4. Warnings about Covid from U.K. study and England’s top medical officer
Paramedics arrive with a patient with Covid-19 at the emergency department of Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, California.
Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A new U.K. study examined brain imaging before and after coronavirus infections and looked specifically at the potential effect on the nervous system. “In short, the study suggests that there could be some long-term loss of brain tissue from Covid, and that would have some long-term consequences,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.” The destruction of brain tissue could explain why Covid patients lost their sense of smell, he said.
Hounslow, London, which has become one of the U.K.’s biggest hotspots for the variant of coronavirus first identified in India, on Thursday 27th May 2021.
Tejas Sandhu | MI News | NurPhoto | Getty Images
England’s top medical officer warned it would likely take five years before new Covid vaccines could “hold the line” to a very large degree against a range of coronavirus variants. Until then, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said, new vaccination programs and booster shots would be needed. A further easing of lockdown restrictions in England was delayed this week due to a surge in cases of the delta variant first discovered in India.
5. Biden signs a bill establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday
U.S. President Joe Biden is applauded as he reaches for a pen to sign the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law as Vice President Kamala Harris stands by in the East Room of the White House in Washington, June 17, 2021.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Most federal workers will observe Juneteenth on Friday because the new holiday marking the end of slavery in the U.S. falls on a Saturday this year. The New York Stock Exchange will not close for Juneteenth but will evaluate closing for it in 2022. On Thursday, President Joe Biden signed a bill establishing Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, as the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived Galveston, Texas, and officially ended slavery in the state. It happened more than two years after then-President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
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Disclosure: Dr. Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Covid vaccine maker Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech company Aetion and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean‘s “Healthy Sail Panel.”
