5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

U.S. stock futures dropped Monday after a late-session rally Friday sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 up over 1.4% and nearly 1.7%, respectively, as stocks benefiting from a successful Covid reopening outperformed. The Dow and S&P 500, which both closed at record highs, saw weekly gains about equal to Friday’s advances. Dow stock Boeing rose 3% in Monday’s premarket after a huge aircraft order from Southwest Airlines. Southwest shares were up modestly.

The Nasdaq on Friday erased an almost 1% loss and closed up 1.2%. However, the tech-heavy index still declined about 0.6% for the week. With just three days left in March, the Nasdaq was tracking for a slight monthly loss, while the Dow and S&P 500 were poised to turn in solid gains for the month.

The 10-year Treasury yield was steady Monday, trading below its recent 14-month high. The rapid rise in yields this year has been troublesome for growth stocks, many of them tech names, as higher interest rates erode the value of future profits and squeeze market valuations.

Credit Suisse warned Monday of a “highly significant” hit to its first-quarter results, after the Swiss-based bank began exiting positions with a large U.S. hedge fund that melted down on margin calls last week. Japanese firm Nomura said it’s evaluating a potential loss estimated at $2 billion. Shares of Nomura and Credit Suisse were getting slammed in Monday’s premarket.

The hedge fund at the center of the fallout is Archegos Capital Management, which was forced to liquidate positions at the end of last week. The moves by the multibillion dollar U.S. family office, founded by former Tiger equity analyst Bill Hwang, caused a wave of selling pressure Friday in U.S. media stocks and Chinese internet ADRs.

The giant Ever Given container ship blocking the Suez Canal was partially refloated early Monday, days after the vessel got stuck and brought a vital global trade route to a standstill. The Suez Canal Authority said the ship’s course has been corrected by 80% and further maneuvers will resume when the water level rises later in the day. It remains unclear when waterway will reopen to traffic as hundreds of ships waited to enter the Suez. Maritime data showed at least 10 tankers and container ships changed course to avoid the logjam, including U.S. ships carrying natural gas for Cheniere and Shell/BG Group.

President Joe Biden will separate his sprawling plan to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure into two pieces. Biden on Wednesday will unveil the first part of his plan, focusing on items like rebuilding roads and railways. The second part — including child-care and health-care reforms, aspects of what’s sometimes called social infrastructure — will be released in “in just a couple of weeks,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday. Taken as a whole, the legislation is expected to cost more than $3 trillion.

With the possibility of safer summer barbeques just months away, along with the promise of widespread Covid vaccine supply in the U.S. by the end of May, many Americans may be feeling as though the nation has finally turned the corner on the pandemic. However, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that America is really only “at the corner.”

New daily U.S. cases, while sharply lower than January’s high, increased 12% in the past seven days compared with a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. Nearly half of people ages 65 and older have completed all of their necessary shots, according to CDC data. However, just 20% of the adult population is considered fully vaccinated.

— Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC’s coronavirus blog.