Dow Rally, Super Tuesday, Target, Qiagen and Waymo - 5 Things You Must Know Tuesday

Joseph Woelfel Stock futures rise as investors await details of a coordinated response to the coronavirus outbreak from the G-7; Joe Biden looks to slow Bernie Sanders' momentum on Super Tuesday; Target and Kohl's report earnings. Here are five things you must know for Tuesday, March 3:

1. -- Stock Futures Rise as Investors Await G-7 Response to Coronavirus

Stock futures were rising Tuesday, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average scored its biggest-ever single-day point gain, as investors awaited details of a coordinated response from some of the world's biggest economies to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus.

Finance ministers from the G-7 group of nations, chaired by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, are slated to hold an extraordinary conference call at 7 a.m. ET to discuss their collective response to the coronavirus crisis, which has killed more than 3,100 people and slowed economic activity because of disruptions to supply chains.

"Calibrating the likelihood of coordinated monetary and fiscal policy stimulus remains the central theme for financial markets," said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist of AxiCorp. 

Reuters reported Tuesday, however, that a draft communique from the G-7 makes no mention of fiscal or monetary support plans, even as central banks around the world have issued statements suggesting they're ready to use policy tools - including interest rate cuts - to ensure financial market stability.

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its key lending rate to a record low 0.5% in an effort to ensure that China's impending slowdown from the virus will have a limited impact on its domestic economy, while the European Central Bank also vowed it was ready to take "appropriate and targeted measures."

" to fend off what President Christine Lagarde called a "fast developing situation, which creates risks for the economic outlook and the functioning of financial markets" in a late Monday statement.

President Donald Trump praised the moves while at the same he criticized the Federal Reserve and Chairman Jerome Powell, as he has done many times before, for being "wrong from day one" as he again called for deeper interest rate cuts.

Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 310 points, S&P 500 futures were up 32.15 points and Nasdaq futures gained 109.75 points.

Stocks finished sharply higher Monday as investors looked to central bank support amid last week's $6 trillion global market meltdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 1,293 points, or 5%, to 26,703, the S&P 500 rose 4.6% and the Nasdaq gained 4.49%.

The Dow posted its biggest-ever point gain and biggest percentage increase since March 2009. The S&P 500's rise of 4.6% was the index's best day since December 2018.

2. -- Biden Scores Endorsements Ahead of Super Tuesday

Super Tuesday is a critical day for the Democratic Party as 14 states will vote to choose who they want to put up against Donald Trump in the presidential election in November.

There are 1,357 delegates at stake, about a third of all delegates. 

Millions of voters from Maine to California will head to the polls. 

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is the front-runner but former Vice President Joe Biden picked up the endorsements of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who on Monday ended her campaign for president, and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who dropped out on Sunday.

Tuesday's contests will be the first test for Michael Bloomberg, who skipped the first four states but who has spent more than half a billion dollars in advertising as he seeks the Democratic Party's nomination.

3. -- Target, Kohl's and Nordstrom Report Earnings

Earnings reports are expected Tuesday from Target  TGT, Kohl's  KSS, Nordstrom  JWN, Urban Outfitters  URBN, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise  HPE and Autozone  AZO.

The economic calendar in the U.S. Tuesday includes Motor Vehicle Sales for February from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

4. -- Thermo Fisher to Buy Qiagen for $10 Billion

Thermo Fisher Scientific  TMO agreed to buy Dutch genetic testing company Qiagen QGEN for $10 billion.

Qiagen shares jumped more than 16% to $41.96 a share in premarket trading Tuesday after agreeing to be acquired for €39 a share in cash, a 23% premium from the stock's closing price Monday.

Including debt, the transaction values Qiagen at $11.5 billion.

Thermo Fisher, the U.S. laboratory equipment maker, said it expects the deal to boost its per-share earnings immediately after the close, which is expected in the first half of 2021. The company also expects synergies of $200 million in the third year after the merger is completed.

Qiagen, back in late December, had said it would remain a stand-alone business following a review of strategic alternatives. 

5. -- Alphabet's Waymo Raises $2.25 Billion in Outside Funding

Alphabet's  GOOGL self-driving car division, Waymo, has raised $2.25 billion from a slate of outside investors.

The company raised the funds in a round led by Silver Lake, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Mubadala Investment Co., a UAE-based sovereign wealth fund. It was Waymo's first outside round of fundraising.

"With this injection of capital and business acumen, alongside Alphabet, we'll deepen our investment in our people, our technology, and our operations, all in support of the deployment of the Waymo Driver around the world," said John Krafcik, Waymo's CEO, in a blog post.

Waymo Driver refers to the technology that operates its self-driving cars, which have been deployed on a limited basis in a handful of U.S. metro areas. Waymo also operates a small ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area, matching test riders with autonomous rides and charging for them.