JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images U.S. stocks traded mostly lower early Monday as investors braced for a barrage of quarterly results from corporations over the coming days. More than 480 companies are slated to report updates, including a number of prominent technology-related firms.
The Dow last week logged a 2.3% gain, the S&P 500 advanced 1.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.1%. Earnings from corporations including Microsoft MSFT, +1.73%, TSLA, -0.05% and Intel INTC, +0.10%, are among a parade of entities could offer greater insight about the economic outlook as American corporations contend with the worst pandemic in more than 100 years.
Meanwhile, Florida, the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., reported nearly seven-day average of 12,000 cases, surging by nearly a 30%, according to CNBC, citing data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. BioNTech BNTX, +5.44% and Pfizer Inc. PFE, +1.86% said their experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced antibodies in people participating in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in Germany.
“Some progress has been made, which is encouraging, and negotiations are expected to carry on this afternoon,” said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, in a research note. “The EU have a track record of a lot of in-house haggling, but in the end a deal is usually struck,” he wrote.