Stock futures edge higher
U.S. stocks are expected to start the week on a positive note, following Friday’s heavy sell-off, which saw the Dow and the S&P 500 register their biggest weekly percentage losses since August as coronavirus outbreak escalated.
As of 4:20 a.m. EST Monday, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 117 points, or about 0.41% to 28,313. The S&P 500 futures rose 15.62 points, or around 0.48% to 3,239.62, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 58.13 points, or roughly 0.65% to 9,055.88.
Chinese stock markets plunge as virus death toll rises to over 360
Meanwhile, stock markets in China fell steeply overnight amid increasing concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak on overall economic growth.
The markets, which were closed last week for the Lunar New Year holiday, dropped even as the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) promised to inject 1.2T yuan ($173.8B) worth of liquidity via reverse repo operations into the financial system to calm investors.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 7.7%, its biggest decline since 2015, wiping out $393 billion in market value. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, tumbled 8.4%.
There are now 17,205 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 361 deaths in mainland China, according to the country’s National Health Commission.
Google parent Alphabet reports earnings today
Core search, YouTube, and Cloud services are among the things to keep an eye on as Google owner Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) reports fourth-quarter earnings results after the market close today.
Analysts expect the search giant to post earnings of $12.55 per share and revenue of $46.93 billion in the latest quarter. The stock was up $8.77, or 0.61% to $1,443 in premarket trading.
Other companies scheduled to report today include Sysco (NYSE: SYY), American Financial Group (NYSE: AFG), Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG), Aecom (NYSE: ACM), and Asbury Automotive (NYSE: ABG).
