What to watch today: Dow futures higher as index looks to set another record, ether

BY THE NUMBERS

U.S. stock futures were mixed of the Monday session, but they are pointing to a record intraday high at the open for the Dow Jones Industrial Average following the 30-stock index’s 24th record close of the year Friday. Dow futures implied an opening gain of about 100 points, while S&P 500 futures were flat and Nasdaq futures slightly lower. (CNBC)

The Dow is currently riding a five-day win streak and leads the major averages with a 13.6% year-to-date gain. The S&P 500, meanwhile, has built a three-day win streak and is coming off its 26th record close of the year. While the Nasdaq has been up the past two trading days, the tech-heavy index has posted three consecutive weekly losses and trails the other averages by a significant margin with a 6.7% gain for 2021.

Gasoline futures are up more than 1% Monday morning, as a significant portion of one of America’s largest pipelines remains shuttered after a cybersecurity attack. DarkSide, a relatively new Russian criminal group, could be behind the ransomware intrusion, NBC News reported Sunday, citing sources. (CNBC/ NBC News)

Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, broke above $4,000 for the first time Monday. Ether, which is the Ethereum blockchain’s native digital token, has risen more than 450% so far this year, far outpacing the returns of bitcoin over the same period. Ether’s market cap is now approaching $500 billion, while bitcoin’s remains above $1 trillion. (CNBC)

There are no government economic releases scheduled for today. CNBC’s Steve Liesman will be interviewing Chicago Fed President Charles Evans live on “Squawk Box” around 8:30 a.m. ET.

Earnings reports out this morning include Marriott (MAR), Energizer Holdings (ENR), US Foods (USFD), BioNTech (BNTX), The Trade Desk (TTD) and Viatris (VTRS). Wynn Resorts (WYNN), Novavax (NVAX), SmileDirectClub (SDC), Virgin Galactic (SPCE), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Simon Property (SPG) and Roblox (RBLX) are scheduled to report after today’s closing bell.

IN THE NEWS TODAY

President Joe Biden will host top Congressional leaders at the White House Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper reported the meeting, which will include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, is expected to partly touch on Biden’s latest two spending proposals, to which the GOP has generally expressed opposition. (WSJ)

* In demoting Cheney, GOP holds on to Trump at risk of further alienating others (NBC News)

Eli Lilly (LLY) reached a licensing deal with a trio of Indian generic drugmakers in hopes of boosting the country’s supply of its arthritis drug that can be used as a Covid treatment. India remains in the throes of an intense Covid outbreak, with 366,161 new infections and 3,754 deaths reported Monday. Calls are growing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement a national lockdown in the world’s second-most populous country. (Reuters)

* As cases grow, India’s…