US pre-open: Futures rally on vaccine optimism
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Tuesday 11 Aug 2020
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures had stocks opening higher ahead of the bell on Tuesday after Russia gave regulatory approval for the world's first Covid-19 vaccine.
As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 1.01%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.68% and 0.49% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 357.96 points higher on Monday after Donald Trump signed an executive order extending the nation's Covid-19 unemployment relief programme.
Futures rallied higher shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the nation had granted regulatory approval for the world's first Covid-19 vaccine.
While concerns about how quickly Russia had managed to develop a safe vaccine abounded, the announcement left market participants optimistic about the race for an inoculation.
Stocks poised to benefit from an economic reopening such as American Airlines, Norwegian Cruise Lines and mall-owner Simon Property Group were all higher in pre-market trading.
The possibility of capital gains tax cuts also lifted sentiment, as focus looks set to shift back to the prospect of more US stimulus payments and geopolitical tensions as earnings season comes to a close.
On the macro front, confidence in the US economy among small-business owners slipped in July amid a continued surge in new Covid-19 cases across the country, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index stood at 98.8 in July - a 1.8 point decline month-on-month and shy of analyst expectations for a reading of 99.9.
Still to come, monthly PPI data for July will be released at 1330 BST and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco head Mary Daly will deliver a speech at 1700 BST.
In corporate news, Eastman Kodak shares slumped overnight after a US federal agency stated it was now reviewing a previously announced $765m loan to assist the photography outfit in producing drug ingredients following recent allegations of wrongdoing.
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