Boeing secures $883 million Army contract for cargo support services
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* J&J falls after health agencies' recommendation
* Big bank earnings to kick off from Wednesday
* Futures: Dow down 0.21%, S&P flat, Nasdaq up 0.42%
(Updates with details on CPI data)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
April 13 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 was set for a subdued open
on Tuesday as data showed consumer prices increased by the most
in more than 8-1/2 years in March, while Johnson & Johnson
slipped as federal health agencies recommended pausing the use
of its COVID-19 vaccine.
The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) jumped 0.6% last month,
the largest gain since August 2012, after rising 0.4% in
February, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. Economists
polled by Reuters had forecast the overall CPI advancing 0.5%.
"There was some level of fear that the numbers would be
enormous," said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital Llc
in New York.
"Going into it, (Federal Reserve Chair Jerome) Powell saying
they are not eager to change rates kind of set the stage that
'regardless of where the number comes in, we are going to stay
accommodative to reach full employment'."
Growing bets that the spike in inflation this year would be
transitory have eased concerns over higher interest rates and
revived demand for high-growth technology stocks, while the S&P
500 and the Dow have scaled record highs on hopes that speedy
vaccinations would lead to a swift economic recovery.
Those hopes were dampened somewhat on Tuesday as U.S.
federal health agencies recommended pausing the use of Johnson &
Johnson's JNJ.N single-shot COVID-19 vaccine after six
recipients developed a rare disorder involving blood clots.
White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein said it was too
soon to say what impact the pause could have on President Joe
Biden's push to reopen the country. Johnson & Johnson's shares were down 3% in premarket
trading.
Cruise operators, airlines and hotel chains, which are
poised to benefit from an economic reopening driven by vaccine
distributions, also edged lower.
"We don't think (the pause on Johnson & Johnson's vaccine)
is a major hiccup at this time," said Ryan Detrick, senior
market strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"We need more time to study it. Its impact on reopening is
minimal at the point. We still have two other vaccines."
Shares of rival U.S. vaccine makers Pfizer Inc PFE.N and
Moderna Inc MRNA.O rose 0.8% and 6.7%.
At 08:41 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 67 points,
or 0.21%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 0.75 points, or
0.02%.
Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 58.25 points, or 0.42% as
heavyweight tech-related companies that had flourished during
lockdowns gained ground. Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O and Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O rose between 0.5% and 0.8%.
Investors are also marking time ahead of the start of the
first-quarter earnings season, with results from Goldman Sachs
GS.N , JPMorgan JPM.N and Wells Fargo WFC.N on deck on
Wednesday.
Analysts expect earnings for S&P 500 firms to jump 25% from
a year ago, driven by strength in consumer discretionary and
financial companies, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms including Riot
Blockchain RIOT.O and Marathon Digital Holdings MARA.O
jumped 8.3% and 7.5% as bitcoin prices BTC=BTSP soared 5%, a
day ahead of listing of Coinbase, the largest U.S.
cryptocurrency exchange.