US pre-open: Futures edge ahead before opening bell in thin trade
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Wednesday 29 Dec 2021
(Sharecast News) - US stock futures edged ahead ahead of Wednesday's opening bell in quiet trading over the holiday period, as investors remained optimistic that the Omicron Covid variant would not harm the economy despite surging case numbers.
As of 1125 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.06%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.11% and 0.20% firmer, respectively.
With little corporate news to drive sentiment, investors will be looking at fresh data on the housing market when the National Association of Realtors puts out a report on US pending home sales in November. Economists are forecasting a slowdown from the previous month.
"US and European futures are trading higher as investors continue to favour riskier assets. Having said that, investors are still monitoring the Omicron situation closely which has led to regional and national lockdowns around the globe," said Avatrade analyst Naeem Aslam.
"The optimism is that we are not going to see these restrictions staying in place for an extended period of time. Supply chain issues are already profound and no one wants to see them becoming more worse as it will hurt economic growth in the US and rest of the world."
"As a result, investors are weighing the risks of rapidly rising Covid-19 cases against aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve to determine what economic growth will look like in 2022."
Tesla rose 2.3% in premarket trading as founder Elon Musk exercised the final batch of a package of vested stock options, a series of transactions that have boosted his stake in the company.
Shares in egg producer Cal-Maine Foods plunged 7.7% in out-of-hours trading after the company reported a decline in profit, citing higher costs.
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN