News

Here are five things you must know for Tuesday, June 1:

1. — Stock Futures Rise and Commodities AdvanceStock futures pointed to a higher start for Wall Street Tuesday and commodities rose as investors were optimistic about the revival of the U.S. economy.

Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 169 points, S&P 500 futures were up 17 points and Nasdaq futures rose 51 points.

Coming out of the three-day Memorial Day weekend, Wall Street was beginning a new month near all-time highs, getting a boost from signs of a solid U.S. economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and a Federal Reserve that has provided extraordinary support.

Traders will be looking to key U.S. jobs data later
in the week for reassurances the world’s biggest economy was bouncing back.

Stocks finished with gains Friday and the S&P 500 closed out May with its fourth straight month of gains as inflation data failed to dent investors’ positive sentiment.

The Dow rose 0.9% for the week and 1.9% in May. Year to date, the blue-chip index has risen 12.8%. The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% for the week and gained 0.5% in May. The index has risen 11.9% so far this year.

The Nasdaq added 2.1% for the week and slipped 1.5% for all of May. Year to date, the tech-heavy index has risen 6.7%.

Oil prices in the U.S. rose nearly 3% early Tuesday to above $68 a barrel following a report that said OPEC and its allies were forecasting a tighter outlook for global oil markets. The OPEC+ group will be meeting Tuesday.

2. — Tuesday’s Calendar: ISM Manufacturing and Zoom Video EarningsThe U.S. economic calendar Tuesday includes the Markit Manufacturing PMI (final) for May at 9:45 a.m. ET, the ISM Manufacturing Index for May at 10 a.m. and Construction Spending for April at 10 a.m.

The end of the week will see the release of the U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls report for May.

Earnings reports are expected Tuesday from Zoom Video Communications  (ZM) – Get Report, Hewlett Packard Enterprise  (HPE) – Get Report, Campbell Soup  (CPB) – Get Report and Canopy Growth  (CGC) – Get Report.

Reports are expected later in the week from Splunk  (SPLK) – Get Report, Cloudera  (CLDR) – Get Report, Ciena  (CIEN) – Get Report, Lululemon Athletica  (LULU) – Get Report, DocuSign  (DOCU) – Get Report, CrowdStrike  (CRWD) – Get Report and Slack  (WORK) – Get Report. 

3. — Cloudera Nears Deal to Be Taken Private by KKR and CD&RSoftware company Cloudera  (CLDR) – Get Report is close to a deal to be taken private by private-equity firms KKR & Co.  (KKR) – Get Report and Clayton Dubilier & Rice, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

A deal for the data-cloud company could be finalized by Tuesday, the people told the Journal. The exact terms couldn’t be learned, but Cloudera has a market value of nearly $4 billion.

Bloomberg reported Cloudera could be bought out at $16 a share, or about a 24% premium to its closing price Friday of $12.86.

Cloudera shares were jumping 18.82% to $15.28 in premarket trading Tuesday.

Cloudera’s largest shareholder is activist investor Carl Icahn, who owns a stake of about 18%. The company has explored a potential sale since mid-2020 after receiving takeover interest, according to Bloomberg.

4. — Tesla’s Elon Musk Blames Supply Chain Disruptions for Higher PricesTesla  (TSLA) – Get Report CEO Elon Musk blamed supply chain disruptions in the global automobile industry for rising prices of the company’s electric vehicles.

Musk, replying to a tweet, said, “Prices increasing due to major supply chain price pressure industry-wide. Raw materials especially.”

Tesla last month raised prices on its Model 3 and Model Y cars.

A global chip shortage has hammered Tesla and the rest of the auto industry. A recent report in the Financial Times said Tesla was on a hunt to secure its own stash of semiconductor chips.

The Financial Times reported that Tesla was looking into various options to secure much-needed chips that are critical to making its cars run, including paying in advance for supplies and even potentially buying its own plant.

5. — J&J Asks Supreme Court to Review $2 Billion Talc VerdictJohnson & Johnson  (JNJ) – Get Report is asking for Supreme Court review of a $2 billion verdict in favor of women who claim they developed ovarian cancer from using the company’s talc products, the Associated Press reported.

The court could say as soon as Tuesday whether it will take up the case, according to the AP.

J&J has argued it didn’t get a fair shake in a trial in state court in Missouri that resulted in an initial $4.7 billion verdict in favor of 22
women who used talc products and developed ovarian cancer.
A state appeals court later cut the award by more than half.

About a year ago, J&J said it would selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. and Canada.