Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Wall Street looks to log another positive week
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Source: The New York Stock Exchange
U.S. stock futures fell Friday, one day after a mixed session that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average dip slightly from its previous record high close, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq eked out new record high closes. All three stock benchmarks were tracking for their second straight positive week, in a continuation of February’s strength. So far this month, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq increased 4.8%, 5.4% and 7.3%, respectively. The Dow and S&P 500 broke two-month winning streaks in January, while the Nasdaq rose for a fourth month in a row in January.
2. Booming Disney+ helps to offset theme park slump
Bob Chapek, CEO of the Walt Disney Company and former head of Walt Disney Parks and Experiences, speaks during a media preview of the D23 Expo 2019 in Anaheim, California, Aug. 22, 2019.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Shares of Disney rose about 2% in premarket trading after the company reported an adjusted fiscal first-quarter profit of 32 cents per share. Analysts had expected a loss of 41 cents per share. Revenue fell 22% to $16.25 billion from a year earlier, though it did beat estimates. Due to Covid, Disney saw a slump in theme park attendance and box office results, but the success of its streaming video service continued. Disney+ added more than 21 million subscribers during the quarter for a total of 94.9 million.
3. White House to address travel, education concerns
A traveler wearing a face mask is seen at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, the United States, Feb. 2, 2021.
Ting Shen | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Major airline CEOs are scheduled to meet virtually Friday with the White House’s Covid-19 response coordinator to discuss travel-related issues, according to Reuters. The meeting comes as airlines, unions and industry groups strongly object to the possibility of requiring predeparture Covid testing for domestic flights.
A 3rd grade class at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Southeast Washington, DC, February 5, 2021.
Evelyn Hockstein | The Washington Post | Getty Images
The CDC plans to issue new guidelines Friday on how to reopen U.S. schools as safely as possible. Pressure to reopen or expand in-person learning has been building for months as students and parents tire of remote classes. Reopening schools is a top priority for the Biden administration.
4. U.S. secures 200 million more Covid vaccine doses
President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, February 11, 2021.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
The White House secured deals for 100 million additional doses of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine and 100 million more of Moderna’s. During Thursday’s tour of the National Institutes of Health, President Joe Biden said the U.S. will have now enough supply of the two-shot vaccines to inoculate 300 million Americans by the end of July. Biden is trying to pick up the pace of vaccinations after a slower-than-expected rollout under former President Donald Trump. Roughly 34.7 million out of some 331 million Americans have received at least their first dose of vaccine, according to the CDC.
5. It’s the defense turn at Trump’s impeachment trial
Members of former President Donald Trump’s defense team, David Schoen, center left, Michael van der Veen, center, and Bruce Castor, center right, arrive at the Capitol before the start of day three of the impeachment trial in the Senate on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Defense lawyers at Trump’s impeachment trial are set to begin to make their case about why the former president should not be convicted of inciting last month’s deadly attack of the U.S. Capitol. They’re prepared to concede that the violence was every bit as traumatic, unacceptable and illegal as Democratic prosecutors described. But they also plan to argue that Trump had nothing to do with it. The argument is likely to appeal to the Republican senators who want to be seen as condemning the violence without convicting the former president.
— Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow CNBC’s blogs on the markets, the pandemic, and Trump’s impeachment trial.
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