Stock market live updates: Dow futures rally 200 points, volatile week, Lowe’s jumps

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President Donald Trump took a tough stance on China over the handling of the coronavirus, saying in a tweet Wednesday morning that it was the “incompetence of China” that caused “this mass Worldwide killing.” Stock futures came off their highs following the comment amid worries Trump could take a harder line with China on trade and other economic matters because of the virus. Trump had threatened to terminate the “phase one” trade deal if China fails to meet its purchase commitments. Top trade negotiators talked over the phone earlier this month and agreed to follow through their trade obligations. –Li

Luckin Coffee‘s stock plunged 38% in premarket trading after it began trading for the first time in more than a month.Trading of the Chinese coffee chain’s stock on the Nasdaq exchange was halted for pending news on April 7, just days after the company disclosed that its chief operating officer fabricated its 2019 sales. There is no time limit for how long a stock can be halted for pending news.On Tuesday, Luckin said that it had received a notice from the Nasdaq that the stock would be delisted. The company has requested a hearing, and the stock will remain listed on the exchange until a Nasdaq panel decides on an outcome. —Lucas

Two stocks bucked the trend of dividend cut last night and raised their quarterly payouts to investors. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman declared a quarterly dividend of $1.45 per share, up 10% from the previous quarter. The company’s shares were flat in premarket trading. Clorox raised its quarterly dividend to $1.11 per share from $1.06, and its stock rose 1.4% in premarket trading on light volume. —Pound

Oil moved higher on Wednesday as growing demand continues to support prices. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rose 1.9% to $32.58 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude traded 2.3% higher at $35.46 per barrel. With worldwide economies reopening, people are once again hitting the road. Producers have also cut back on output, so while there’s still an imbalance in the market, the balance is beginning to shift. Traders are looking ahead to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration later this morning for a read on the health of the industry. Analysts are expecting the data to show a build of 1.8 million barrels for the week ending May 15, according to estimates from FactSet. —Stevens

Mark Newton, managing member at Newton Advisors, told clients that further market gains are still likely even after a sudden drop late Tuesday. “The late day weakness did nothing to take away from the bullish structure that resulted from Monday’s breakout,” Newton said. “We look to be at a juncture where the worst performing laggards of this year have begun a sharp counter-trend rally and can play catchup. I expect this to last into late week/early next.” Newton added that, unless the S&P 500 breaks down to 2,860, “this dip should be buyable for a push to 3020-30.” The S&P 500 closed at 2,922.94 on Tuesday. —Imbert

The Treasury is bringing back 20-year bonds, last issued in 1986, in a bid to extend the length of time it has to pay off its record level of borrowing to support the economy through the coronavirus pandemic. A $20 billion auction will be held at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Analysts expect the new issue to be met with good demand as the 20-year note is particularly appealing to foreign investors, pension funds and insurers, who look for longer duration holdings to match their liabilities. –Li, Domm

Investors will learn more about the mindset of the Federal Reserve when minutes are released from the central bank’s last meeting. The Federal Open Market Committee held its benchmark borrowing rate near zero following a meeting that ended April 29. In addition, the FOMC pledged to keep policy steady “until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve its maximum employment and price stability goals.” Markets had been looking for a bit firmer of a commitment to when the Fed would consider tightening policy again. The meeting summary will come out at 2 p.m. ET. –Cox

Shares of Target gained about 1% during Wednesday’s premarket trading after the company’s first quarter earnings results showed that digital sales jumped 141% year-over-year. Overall, Target’s same-store sales grew by 10.8% as people shopped at the big box retailer amid the pandemic. But sales of higher-margin items, such as apparel, dropped, hitting the company’s bottom line. For the quarter the big-box retailer earned 56 cents per share, down from $1.53 a year earlier, while revenue rose 11.3% to $19.62 billion. CEO Brian Cornell said that coronavirus-related expenses, such as higher wages, has risen to about $500 million.  —Stevens

Shares of home improvement retailer Lowe’s jumped more than 5% in premarket trading after the company said its first-quarter same-store sales surged 11.2% even amid the Covid-19 outbreak. For the company’s first quarter, ended May 1, Lowe’s reported net income rose to $1.34 billion compared to earnings of $1.05 billion one year ago. CEO Marvin Ellison said he was pleased with strong online demand, with Lowes.com sales increasing 80% during the quarter. —Franck

U.S. stock futures were sharply higher on Wednesday morning as the market’s volatility this week keeps investors on their toes. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 253 points, or 1.1%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures both gained 1%. Wednesday’s move up comes after a sharp decline in the previous session that snapped a three-day winning streak. Sentiment was lifted Wednesday in part by strong earnings from Lowe’s. —Imbert 

—With reporting from Jeff Cox, Yun Li, Jesse Pound, Patti Domm and Amelia Lucas. 

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