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What to Watch Today: Stock Futures Are Lower After a Strong Rally Last Week

Michael Nagle | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

BY THE NUMBERS

S&P 500 futures were lower Tuesday morning, as Wall Street resumes trading following the Memorial Day holiday. Stocks posted strong gains last week, ending seven-week losing streaks for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite and an eight-week slide for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The S&P 500 and Dow rose 6.5% and 6.2%, respectively, their best weekly advances since November 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was the best-performing major U.S. stock index last week, gaining 6.8%. (CNBC)

Stocks were aided in the latter part of last week by quality retail earnings and the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation measure suggested price pressures in April eased somewhat. In this four-day trading weekSalesforce and Hewlett Packard Enterprise headline the earnings calendar, while the May jobs report is due out Friday. (CNBC)

U.S. Treasury yields climbed Tuesday, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note rising as high as 10 basis points to reach 2.855%. As of 7:20 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury note yield stood around 2.812%. Bond yields move inversely to prices. The action in the bond market came as preliminary data for May showed euro zone inflation hitting yet another record high and oil prices rose.

IN THE NEWS TODAY

Crude prices rose Tuesday, as European Union leaders reached a deal late Monday to ban about 90% of Russian oil imports by the end of the year. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude futures for July climbed more than 3%, trading as high as $119.43 per barrel. The August contract for international benchmark Brent crude was higher by about 1.65% to $119.54 per barrel. The EU's latest sanctions package, which still needs to be finalized, is the bloc's sixth targeting Russia over its invasion of Ukraine in late February. About three-quarters of Russia's crude imports will be immediately impacted, according to EU estimates, rising to 90% by year-end. A Russian official said Moscow will "find other importers" for its oil in response to the EU's partial embargo. (CNBC)

Shanghai's coronavirus lockdown is set to be lifted Wednesday, after two months of restrictions that upended life in China's most populous city, angering residents and hampering the world's second-largest economy. According to Reuters, about 22.5 million people who live in low-risk areas will see their strict Covid curbs lifted Wednesday. Although gyms and movie theaters will stay closed for now, stores can operate at 75% of capacity, The Associated Press reported. Full service of public transportation on buses and subways will resume. Shanghai's lockdown came as part of China's so-called zero Covid policy. (Reuters/Associated Press)

Activist investor Nelson Peltz is set to join Unilever's board of directors in July, the consumer goods company announced Tuesday, sending its shares higher by more than 5%. Unilever — whose brands include Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Dove soap and Comfort fabric softener — said that Peltz's firm, Trian Fund Management, manages funds that collectively own about 1.5% of its shares. Peltz, who is chairman of fast-food chain Wendy's, is no stranger to the consumer goods industry. At various points in his career, he's been on the boards of Procter & Gamble and Mondelez International. Trian's stake in Unilever was first reported by media outlets in January. (CNBC)

STOCKS TO WATCH

Canadian gold producer Yamana Gold (AUY) agreed to be acquired by Gold Fields (GFI) in an all-stock deal valued at $6.7 billion. Yamana Gold shareholders will receive 0.6 Gold Field shares for each share they now hold. Yamana surged 14.9% in the premarket while Gold Fields tumbled 11.8%.

Credit Suisse (CS) denied a Reuters report that it is mulling various options to raise capital after a series of losses.  Two people with knowledge of the matter had told Reuters the bank was in the early stages of weighing options such as a share sale or selling a business unit.

Sanofi (SNY) slipped in the premarket after the FDA put a trial related to its erectile dysfunction drug Cialis on hold.  The trial is designed to evaluate the conversion of the prescription treatment to "over the counter" status, with Sanofi saying the halt was related to how the trial has been designed.

Robinhood Markets (HOOD) agreed to settle a customer lawsuit over a March 2020 outage of its trading app.  A court filing shows that the company is working out final details of the settlement, but did not say how much Robinhood would pay to resolve the lawsuit.

Qualcomm (QCOM) CEO Cristiano Amon told the Financial Times that the chip maker is interested in buying a stake in semiconductor designer Arm when it goes public.  Amon told the paper that Qualcomm could also team up with other companies to buy Arm outright under certain circumstances.

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