Dow Futures, Uber, Warren Buffett, Coronavirus – 5 Things You Must Know Monday

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Dow Futures, Uber, Warren Buffett, Coronavirus – 5 Things You Must Know Monday

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July 6, 2020

Dow Futures, Uber, Warren Buffett, Coronavirus – 5 Things You Must Know Monday

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Here are five things you must know for Monday, July 6:

1. — Stock Futures Jump Following Surge in Chinese Markets

Stock futures were rising Monday, getting a lift from a surge in Chinese markets amid improving bullish sentiment.

Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 362 points, futures for the S&P 500 gained 35 points and Nasdaq futures were up 119 points following the three-day Independence Day weekend.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed Monday with a gain of 5.7%, the biggest jump in five years, after China’s influential state media said fostering a “healthy” bull market after the coronavirus pandemic was now more important to the economy than ever, according to a report from Bloomberg.

However, a surge in new cases of the coronavirus in states such as Florida, Texas and California and the possibility of renewed lockdowns and reduce consumer spending prompted Goldman Sachs to lower its 2020 growth forecast for the United States.

Goldman’s chief economist, Jan Hatzius, wrote in a note over the weekend that he expects the U.S. economy to contract 4.6% in 2020 vs. a previous outlook that called for a drop of 4.2%.

“The healthy rebound in consumer services spending seen since mid-April now appears likely to stall in July and August as authorities impose further restrictions to contain virus spread,” Hatzius wrote.

2. — Coronavirus – The Latest

The number of confirmed global cases of the coronavirus has risen to 11,457,993, according to the Johns Hopkins University, and deaths increased to 534,460.

The U.S. has 2,888,729 cases of the coronavirus, the most in the world, according to Johns Hopkins. Deaths in the U.S. have risen to 129,947, also the most in the world.

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased by almost 56,000 from Saturday to Sunday, an increase of 2% vs. the 1.8% average daily increase over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins.

Florida on Sunday reported more than 200,000 cases of the virus, up 5.3% from a day earlier. In California, the state reported 5,410 new cases, an increase of 2.1%. Los Angeles County had a record 3,187 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, Bloomberg noted.

3. — Uber to Buy Postmates for $2.65 Billion

Ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies (UBER) – Get Report has agreed to acquire food delivery service Postmates for $2.65 billion in stock.

The deal was confirmed Monday.

The head of Uber Eats, Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, is expected to continue to run Uber’s combined delivery business, Bloomberg reported, citing according to a person close to the matter. Postmates CEO Bastian Lehmann and his team will stay on to manage Postmates as a separate service, another person said.

Postmates sits well behind market-leading DoorDash, but still commands a near 10% slice of the U.S. food delivery market. It would also fit into Uber’s diversification strategy, with ride traffic falling amid the coronavirus pandemic, and soften the blow of losing out to Just Eat Takeaway in last month’s $7.3 billion battle for Grubhub (GRUB) – Get Report.

Uber shares rose 8.38% to $33.25 in premarket trading Monday.

4. — Warren Buffett Snaps Up Dominion Energy’s Natural Gas Assets

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) – Get Report agreed to buy Dominion Energy’s (D) – Get Report natural gas transmission and storage assets for $4 billion.

With debt included, the transaction amounts to about $10 billion.

The takeover is Berkshire Hathaway’s biggest acquisition in more than four years. Buffett had said at the conglomerate’s annual shareholders meeting in May – even as stocks dropped sharply during the coronavirus pandemic – that he didn’t see any “attractive” deals out there.

He also revealed in May that Berkshire Hathaway had built up a cash pile of $137 billion.

“We are very proud to be adding such a great portfolio of natural gas assets to our already strong energy business,” said Buffett, who serves as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

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1. — Stock Futures Jump Following Surge in Chinese Markets

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