U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Thursday on rising worries over the coronavirus outbreak in China that prompted a lockdown of two cities in the country, with a mixed bag of results adding to the dour sentiment.
The benchmark S&P 500 closed with tiny gains on Wednesday and well below its record high after attempting to bounce back from sharp losses earlier in the week on concerns about the virus outbreak hitting the global economy.China put on lockdown on Thursday two cities at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak amid fears the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Airlines stocks were mixed, with Southwest Airlines Co slipping 0.9per cent after reporting a 21per cent fall in fourth-quarter profit due to Boeing 737 MAX costs, while JetBlue Airways Corp rose 2.6per cent after reporting a slight rise in quarterly profit.
AgendaFreeTV lookner