Futures tracking the S&P 500 and Dow fell on Thursday as U.S. coronavirus infections surged and investors weighed the timeline of the roll-out of an effective vaccine, while some heavyweight technology stocks headed higher for the second straight day.
New York became the latest state to introduce social distancing restrictions on Wednesday, as new coronavirus cases in the United States surged above 100,000 for an eighth consecutive day.Futures for the blue-chip Dow slipped 0.8per cent as industrial and financial companies sensitive to economic growth fell, with Boeing Co and JPMorgan Chase & Co down about 2per cent each.
"With several of the early November catalysts out of the way, the market does appear to be expressing concern with some of the near-term COVID trends," said Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at StoneX Group Inc in New York. Amazon.com Inc, Netflix Inc and Microsoft Corp edged higher in premarket trading, set to add to gains from the previous session.