Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Written by
Celeste Perri
Written by

Celeste Perri

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(Bloomberg) --

Good morning. The coronavirus is more fatal than the flu, Joe Biden had a big night and U.S. futures are rebounding on the back of it. Here's what's moving markets.

Virus Update

Here's some good news: The novel coronavirus doesn't spread as efficiently as influenza, according to the head of the World Health Organization. Unfortunately, the virus has a much higher fatality rate, which is now at 3.4% based on reported cases, compared to the 1% infected by seasonal flu. Global infections are now higher than 93,000 and companies around the world are stepping up action with JPMorgan Chase & Co. asking thousands of U.S. employees to work from home and Ford Motor Co. banning all business travel. Google called off its flagship conference and more travel restrictions will be announced soon, according to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration chief.

Super Tuesday

Many of the early results are in and while Bernie Sanders won the biggest prize of the Super Tuesday primaries with a victory in California, Joe Biden staged a comeback in the race for the Democratic nomination with victories in eight states. Those included Massachusetts, delivering a symbolic blow to the candidacy of the state's senator Elizabeth Warren. The biggest day of the presidential primary calendar will likely define the fight for Sanders and Biden and determine whether or not Warren and Michael Bloomberg have a rationale to continue. (Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.) Here's why U.S. futures are up on the news and follow our live blog for more up-to-the minute results — we're still waiting for Texas to be called.

G-7

That rise in futures is good news after U.S. equities dropped for an eighth day in nine on Tuesday as investors reconsidered the efficacy of Federal Reserve efforts to stimulate the economy and Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged even a half-point rate cut is insufficient to solve the myriad economic and health risks posed by the virus. The markets were also spooked because the move came after a call among the finance ministers of the richest nations on how to handle the crisis and when they hung up, the Fed was the only one to move immediately. Overnight, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority followed suit and South Korea unveiled a $9.8 billion budget to help businesses. All eyes will be on who else joins the effort today.

FTSE-100 Reshuffle

The quarterly FTSE-100 reshuffle will be announced after the close of market Wednesday. Strategists expect embattled hospital operator NMC Health Plc to be booted from the gauge, which sets inclusion based on market value. The Muddy Waters target has lost about two-thirds of its value since the activist investor in December alleged that NMC had overpaid for assets, inflated cash balances and understated debt. That was before the shares were suspended last week. Less easy to predict for FTSE watchers has been who would take NMC's place in the benchmark, with several contenders through Tuesday's close.

Coming Up…

European futures are holding onto modest gains, while stocks in Asia were mixed. There's a slew of macro data coming, including euro-area retail sales and a smattering of purchasing managers indexes. And, while they're not public, Lego reports. Because wouldn't it be great if everything was awesome?