Traders on the New York Stock Exchange.
Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:
- Stocks to bounce after Biden capital gains concerns slammed Wall Street
- Bitcoin, other cryptos sink and shave $200 billion off global market
- Intel shares fall as revenue, profit drop slightly from last year
- CDC considers two more cases as advisory panel meets on paused J&J vaccine
- SpaceX launches third crew in under year, fly on reused rocket
1. Stocks to bounce after Biden capital gains concerns slammed Wall Street
U.S. stock futures were mostly higher Friday, one day after Wall Street skidded on reports that President Joe Biden plans to propose much higher capital gains taxes for the rich. Bloomberg and The New York Times said Thursday afternoon that Biden's proposal would call for an increase in the capital gains tax rate to 39.6% for those earning $1 million or more, up from 20% currently. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished off their lows, declining about 1% each. The three stock benchmarks were tracking for weekly drops of more than 1%.
2. Bitcoin, other cryptos sink and shave $200 billion off global market
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies sank Friday as concern about Biden raising U.S. capital gains taxes on the rich led to a wave of selling. Bitcoin, which hit an all time high near $65,000 on April 14, sank 6.5% to under $50,000. That's a 23% plunge in a little more than a week. The crypto market value, half of which is bitcoin, dropped $200 billion in just a day. Bitcoin went below a $1 trillion in market value as the global crypto universe slipped below $2 trillion, according to price-tracking website CoinMarketCap.
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3. Intel shares fall as revenue, profit drop slightly from last year
Intel late Thursday delivered essentially flat first-quarter sales and a drop in profit in the first earnings report under new CEO Pat Gelsinger. The Dow stock declined more than 2% in premarket trading, though Intel's per-share earnings and revenue did beat estimates. Gelsinger, who took over in February, announced a plan earlier this month to invest $20 billion in new microchip manufacturing plants. Dow components American Express and Honeywell delivered quarterly results Friday morning. Amex beat handily on profit but missed on revenue. Shares dropped nearly 4%. Honeywell beat on both, though its stock was also lower.
4. CDC considers two more cases as advisory panel meets on paused J&J vaccine
The CDC's immunization advisory panel is set to meet Friday on whether to lift the pause on Johnson & Johnson's one-shot Covid vaccine. In addition to six women who developed rare but severe blood clotting issues after getting the vaccine, the CDC is looking into two more possible cases: an Oregon woman who died and a Texas woman who was hospitalized. Of the original six, one died and one became critically ill. According to CDC data, over 8 million people have received the J&J vaccine in the U.S.
5. SpaceX launches third crew in under year, fly on reused rocket
SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit Friday morning from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, using a recycled rocket and capsule. It's the third crewed flight in less than a year for Elon Musk's privately held commercial space company. The astronauts from the United States, Japan and France should reach the International Space Station early Saturday after a 23-hour ride in the same capsule used by SpaceX's debut crew last May.
— Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story. Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC's coronavirus coverage.
