Stock futures opened slightly higher on Sunday night, indicating a higher open when Wall Street begins trading on Monday, even as coronavirus cases continued to advance globally and nationally.
The evolution of the crisis continued to go from bad to worse during the long weekend of vacation. New COVID-19 cases at some of the new hot spots in the south and west increased on record, including at the current epicenters of Florida and Texas on Saturday. The World Health Organization said a record 212,326 coronavirus diagnoses were confirmed globally in 24 hours from Saturday, with the United States, Brazil and India showing the biggest increases.
The lone star state reported 3,449 new cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday for a 1.8% increase from the previous day, bringing the total number of infections so far in the state to 195,239. Meanwhile, California’s new cases increased by 5,410 for a 2.1% increase in one day, falling below the 14-day average for the growth of new cases in the state. Arizona’s one-day increase of 3,536 cases, or 3.7% from the previous day, was slightly below the state average growth of 4.1% in two weeks.
Recent resurgences in coronavirus cases in some parts of the country led Goldman Sachs economists to lower their expectations for US gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year. This occurs despite new economic data, including the June employment report, well above expectations.
“A combination of tighter state restrictions and voluntary social distancing is already having a noticeable impact on economic activity,” said economist Goldman Sachs led by Jan Hatzius in a note on Sunday.
“The states with the most severe deterioration in the COVID situation saw declines in consumer and workplace activity in late June that are likely to continue in July, and activity flattened out in other states.”
With the expected upturn in the third quarter now constrained by the surge in new cases, part of the accumulated demand will prepare the economy for a stronger 2021, Hatzius estimated. On a full year basis, our forecast now implies GDP growth of -4.6% in 2020 (vs. -4.2% before) and growth of + 5.8% in 2021 (vs. + 5.8%). “
Faced with a possible prolonged slump in the economy, government officials have taken steps to scale up stimulus efforts to support individuals and businesses.
President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an extension of applications for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a key component of the virus-related fiscal stimulus aimed at helping small businesses receive cost subsidies, including payrolls. The legislation extended the June 30 deadline to apply for the program until August 8.
On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at the White House that the Trump administration “would seriously consider” another round of direct checks to taxpayers, after the $ 1,200 checks sent to Americans below a certain income threshold that had been approved in March. .
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6:12 pm ET: Stock futures open slightly higher
These were the main moves at the start of the overnight session for US stock futures, starting at 6:12 pm ET:
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S&P 500 futures (ES = F): 3,129.5, up to 0.5 points or 0.02%
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Dow futures (YM = F): 25,766.00, up to 7 points, or 0.03%
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Nasdaq futures (NQ = F): 10,378.00, 22.25 points above, or 0.21%
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