Dow futures down 200, tech stocks weak

Tom Lee, the head of research at Fundstrat, said in a note to clients Tuesday that deaths from Covid-19 have not seen an increase despite recent outbreaks in places like Arizona, Florida and Texas that have led to more economic restrictions. Deaths can lag reported infections by many weeks, but the low death rates in recent outbreaks has led some to argue that the virus is not as deadly as originally feared.”And perhaps more importantly, daily deaths from COVID-19 remain in a downtrend.  Recall, US cases have been surging for several weeks now and yet, we have not seen a similar surge in hospitalizations (nationwide) nor in deaths,” Lee said.Lee also said that he believed the pandemic had peaked peaked in Houston, one of the major hot spots in the United States. — Jesse Pound

Citigroup hiked its 2020 S&P 500 target to 2,900 from 2,700, thanks to the “incessant” support of the Federal Reserve that’s caused the market to blow past its previous forecast. Citi’s new forecast still calls for about a 10% decline from here. “While our fundamental assessment still implies downside from current levels, it is more probable that the trading range for the market should be 2,700-3,200 given powerful fiscal and monetary stimuli (with more likely from government next month),” Tobias Levkovich, Citi chief U.S. equity strategist, told clients in a note. In an effort to shore up the economy, the Federal Reserve has slashed interest rates to near zero and announced an unprecedented unlimited asset purchase program. — Maggie Fitzgerald

The U.S. economic recovery is likely to be “” now that coronavirus cases are rising in parts of the country, according to Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, whose district covers some of the hardest-hit areas. Speaking to the Financial Times, the central bank official said he is concerned amid spikes in Florida, Georgia and some Western states. “There are a couple of things that we are seeing and some of them are troubling and might suggest that the trajectory of this recovery is going to be a bit bumpier than it might otherwise,” Bostic told the paper. “And so we’re watching this very closely, trying to understand exactly what’s happening.” High-frequency data tracked by Jefferies shows a slight slowing from last week to 57% of the “normal” level as measured by 2019 activity. While flight activity is higher, consumer traffic and employment metrics edged lower. However, Jefferies noted that activity “has clearly flat-lined” after two months of improvement and has shown “particular weakness in virus-hit states.” —Jeff Cox

Thanks to the swift rebound from the…