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US pre-open: Futures point to losses as Covid-19 cases continue to rise

By Iain Gilbert

Date: Friday 10 Jul 2020

US pre-open: Futures point to losses as Covid-19 cases continue to rise

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures had stocks opening lower on Friday following a mixed session that saw traders flock to tech shares amid fears around additional lockdown measures.
As of 1230 BST, Dow futures were down 0.24%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.19% and 0.04% softer, respectively.

The Dow closed 361.19 points lower on Thursday, erasing Wednesday's gains that came amid a fresh record for new coronavirus cases in the US of 62,000.

Covid-19 related hospitalisations hit a record in the state of Florida on Wednesday, while California's average daily increase also hit an all-time high. Increased case numbers weighed on stocks reliant on the reopening of the economy, like United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Carnival Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line.

However, losses seemed to be tempered after Dr Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, revealed that Moderna's coronavirus vaccine candidate would soon enter phase three trials.

Also in focus were comments from presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden who said he would end the era of "shareholder capitalism", launching a $700bn economic plan and taking aim at Wall Street.

"During this crisis, Donald Trump has been almost singularly focused on the stock market, the Dow and the Nasdaq. Not you. Not your families," Biden said. "Wall Street bankers and CEOs didn't build America."

Markets.com's Neil Wilson said: "Whilst no Bernie Sanders, there is little doubt that Biden will raise taxes and regulation risk - equity markets need to start to price in the risk better and there are signs that some investors already are.

"Investors need to be wary of a Democrat clean sweep of the House, Senate and White House, which could greenlight some pretty aggressive redistributive policies."

In macro news, monthly PPI figures for June will be published at 1330 BST.

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