US stock futures moved higher in overnight trading and pointed to gains on the open on Wednesday after the S&P 500 closed lower for the first time in eight days.
Dow futures rose 70 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.27% and 0.5%, respectively.
After the clock on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that the US government will purchase 100 million doses of Moderna’s experimental coronavirus vaccine, which is currently in human trials at a late stage.
Earlier, former vice president and presidential candidate Joe Biden announced that sen. California Kamala Harris will join him on the Democratic ticket.
A return to risk appetite following boosting economic figures and hope for new package for coronavirus relief and even a vaccine boosted the 500-share index for much of the trading day on Tuesday. However, the S&P 500 ended the day down 0.8% – hitting a seven-day winning streak – as technological advances fell.
The S&P 500 has grown more than 52% since its low point in March and is 1.8% of its record high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped more than 100 points, but at one point traded above 28,000 for the first time since February. Shares benefiting from the economic recovery and a vaccine Covid-19 have limited the loss of the average.
The Nasdaq Composite was the underperformer, losing 1.7% as investors rotated out of technology stocks. Netflix, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Alphabet and Apple all close down.
The sentiment was boosted earlier in the day after local news agencies reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the country had given regulatory approval for the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine.
“A combination of the S&P 500 index making its first real attempt at an all-time record high after seven straight days of progress, its old leadership – technology and FANNGs – continuing a recent trend of wrestling and another “Even without an agreement, even renewed talks in DC regarding a new incentive package that has finally been caught on the stock market,” Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group, told CNBC. “The first signs of problems today brought a lot of sales by investors worried about closing in on recent gains.”
Investors are also juggling uncertainty over a second coronavirus stimulus letter. Over the weekend, Trump signed four executive orders to extend some help with coronavirus. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that the White House is open to talks with Democrats using coronavirus and putting more relief ground on the table to reach a compromise.
The Department of Labor is set to release key inflation data on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect consumer prices to rise 0.3% in July, after jumping 0.6% in June. Core CPI is expected to rise by 0.2%, if 1.2%, on an annualized basis, according to Dow Jones.
First seasons continue Wednesday with Cisco Systems, Lyft and SmileDirectClub all reporting to the closing clock.
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