The daily business briefing: July 28, 2020

1. Republicans propose cutting weekly jobless boost to $200

Republican lawmakers said Monday that they were proposing in their new $1 trillion coronavirus relief bill to extend weekly emergency unemployment benefits established in the previous CARES Act, but reduce the payments from $600 a week to $200 a week. House Democrats this summer passed a bill seeking to renew the $600 payments, which are set to expire this week, until January while the unemployment rate remains high. The Republican-proposed cut would be temporary, and is meant to fill the gap until states can implement a Republican-favored approach that involves paying workers 70 percent of the income they earned before losing their jobs due to the pandemic. Trump administration officials said the proposal also would include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks.

Bloomberg The Washington Post

2. Google extends remote work through 2021

Google said Monday that its employees will be allowed to continue working from home until July 2021 or later. The tech giant had previously said most of its employees would work remotely through the end of this year, with some returning to the officer quicker. The change suggested that Google is preparing for an extended pandemic. In the memo announcing the news to employees, CEO Sundar Pichai said Google had reopened 42 offices around the world but wanted to give employees "the flexibility you need to balance work with taking care of yourselves and your loved ones over the next 12 months." The move was the latest sign that tech companies are leading the shift to remote work to reduce the threat of infections during the coronavirus crisis.

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CNN

3. DraftKings shares plunge after MLB postpones 3 games over virus outbreak

Shares of sports-betting company DraftKings fell by as much as 14 percent on Monday after Major League Baseball postponed three games due to player coronavirus infections, raising concerns about the long-delayed season just days after it started. DraftKings' immediate revenue prospects are closely tied with the league's effort to resume play. MLB on Monday announced that the Miami Marlins' home opener and two other games were being rescheduled after more than a dozen Marlins players and staffers tested positive for the coronavirus, stranding the team in self-imposed quarantine in Philadelphia. The New York Yankees' game in Philadelphia also was postponed, as Phillies' players faced testing following their series against the Marlins. Nine players on the Marlins' 30-athlete roster were among those infected.

CNN The Associated Press

4. Drug executives back out of meeting with Trump

A meeting between President Trump and top pharmaceutical executives scheduled for Tuesday was canceled after major drug lobbies backed out, Politico reported Monday, citing five industry sources. The drug-industry leaders reportedly refused to attend the meeting after Trump signed an executive order on Friday telling health officials to come up with a plan to link Medicare payments for some medicines to their lower prices abroad. The drug industry, and some patient groups, have argued that such a policy would discourage innovation, and make it harder for patients to get access to some treatments. Before Trump's Friday announcement, several drug makers reportedly believed that the administration was no longer considering the provision, known as a most-favored-nations rule.

Politico

5. Stock futures under pressure as earnings season continues

U.S. stock index futures edged lower early Tuesday ahead of a fresh batch of corporate earnings reports. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq were all down by about 0.2 percent. McDonald's, one of the companies reporting before the opening bell, said its quarterly revenue fell by nearly a third due to coronavirus closures. Its shares fell by 3.6 percent in premarket trading. The Dow and the S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, on Monday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped by 1.7 percent, led by Netflix's 3 percent gain. Shares of Apple rose by 2.5 percent, while those of Amazon gained 1.5 percent. Also on Monday, gold prices surged to a record high.

CNBC