Stocks seen opening lower
U.S. stocks were set to open in negative territory on Wednesday as market players kept focus on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) numbers.
By 5:20 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were down 650 points, or 2.99% to 21,101. The S&P 500 futures dropped 78.37 points, or 3.05% to 2,491.38 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures declined 207.5 points, or 2.66% to 7,578.75.
According to a tracker provided by John Hopkins University, the COVID-19 pandemic has so far infected 860,000 people and claimed more than 42,000 lives globally. The U.S. continues to lead the world in the number of confirmed cases of the virus, with nearly 200,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that between 100,000 and 240,000 people will die from coronavirus in the country, even with strict social distancing measures in place.
“This is going to be three weeks like we’ve never seen before,” the president told reporters during a White House press briefing.
Crude dips on U.S. inventory build
Crude futures were also under pressure on Wednesday, hurt by a report showing U.S. crude inventories grew unexpectedly last week as well as the ongoing price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.
U.S. crude oil inventories swelled by 10.48 million barrels in the week ended March 27, the Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast an increase of 4 million barrels.
As of 5:20 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $20.18 a barrel, down 30 cents, or 1.46%. International Brent crude futures were down $1.37, or 5.2% to 24.98 a barrel.
Xerox walks away from its hostile takeover bid for HP
Meanwhile, Xerox (NYSE: XRX) has given up its hostile attempt to merge with HP (NYSE: HPQ). The printer maker announced on Tuesday that it will not pursue its $35 billion hostile cash-and-stock bid for HP because of the economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The current global health crisis and resulting macroeconomic and market turmoil caused by COVID-19 have created an environment that is not conducive to Xerox continuing to pursue an acquisition of HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) (“HP”),” the company said in a press release.
Xerox also dropped plans to nominate a slate of candidates to the PC and printing equipment manufacturer’s board this summer.
