Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow were higher Monday morning, even as a growing number of states across the country re-imposed social distancing standards to try to stem increases in coronavirus case counts.
The pre-market moves came after a sell-off on Friday, with the Dow ending lower at more than 700 points, or 2.3%. The risk-free mood was fueled after cities and states hit with a resurgence of coronavirus infections tightened standards of social distancing and reversed reopening processes already underway, further disrupting business activity.
More cities pushed back plans to reopen over the weekend. California Governor Gavin Newsom said Sunday the state was ordering bars to be closed again in seven counties, including Los Angeles. It also recommended that eight other counties re-close their bars, due to the spread of Covid-19 across the state. California’s latest orders put the state in the company of others, including Texas and Florida, which last week also ordered bars in their states to be temporarily closed.
“We suspect that most forecasters have been assuming a soft rally (ish) across the economy; we have. That now seems unlikely, “Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a note.” It will be about a month, at least, before behavioral changes and new constraints induce a clear and sustained downward shift in cases and hospitalizations, allowing another attempt at reopening in the South. This means that the first month of the third quarter will be very weak. “
Globally, coronavirus deaths exceeded 500,000 over the weekend, and total cases exceeded 10 million, according to Johns Hopkins data.
Later this week, investors will receive a host of new economic data, including the June jobs report on Thursday morning. The publication will coincide with the Labor Department’s weekly report on new unemployment insurance claims, which is expected to show an additional 1,336 million people who filed new unemployment claims the week ending June 27, slightly below the worst. than expected 1.48 million reported last week.
“Last week’s data only showed minor improvements in both initial and continuing claims, suggesting that labor market progress may be stagnant since the successful May jobs report,” wrote Deutsche Bank economist Brett. Ryan on a note.
“While there is some disconnect between claims data and official employment statistics, both data indicate that newly unemployed workers are not transitioning to work at a particularly rapid rate and periods of unemployment are lengthening,” he added.
Markets in the US will be closed on Friday in compliance with the July 4 holiday.
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7:25 am ET: S&P 500, Dow futures rise on the open market
These were the main movements in the markets, as of 7:25 am ET:
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S&P 500 futures (ES = F): 3,012.75, up to 5.75 points or 0.19%
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Dow futures (YM = F): 25,060.00, up to 110 points, or 0.44%
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Nasdaq futures (NQ = F): 9,838.5, 27 points less, or 0.27%
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Raw (CL = F): + $ 0.15 (+ 0.39%) at $ 38.64 per barrel
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Gold (GC = F): + $ 5.30 (+ 0.3%) at $ 1,785.60 per ounce
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10-year treasury (^ TNX): +1.2 bps to produce 0.65%
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6:04 pm ET: Stock futures open lower
These were the main moves at the start of the overnight session for US stock futures, Starting at 6:04 pm ET:
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S&P 500 futures (ES = F): 2,991.00, 16 points less or 0.53%
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Dow futures (YM = F): 24,801.00, 149 points less, or 0.6%
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Nasdaq futures (NQ = F): 9,803.00, 62.5 points less, or 0.63%
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