Futures point to a negative open
U.S. stock markets appear set for losses at the open on Wednesday, as traders await a slew corporate earnings and continue to monitor developments surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
By 5:30 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow indicated a drop of 166 points, or 0.62% to 26,560. S&P 500 futures fell 18.87 points, or 0.58% to 3,232.38 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were down 42.12 points, or 0.39% to 10,808.88.
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. have jumped to 3.9 million, with over 142,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 1,000 fatalities were recorded in the country on Tuesday, the biggest-single day increase since June 2 when 1,052 deaths were reported.
President Donald Trump said during a press briefing yesterday that the coronavirus pandemic “will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better.”
Microsoft, Tesla
Meanwhile, several high-profile companies are scheduled to release their financial results ahead of the opening bell, including Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (NYSE: TMO), and Constellium (NYSE: CSTM).
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) headline today’s after-the-bell earnings, with Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (NYSE: CMG) and Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) also announcing their results.
Trump administration orders China to close its Houston consulate
Relations between the U.S. and China will also be in focus today after Washington ordered Beijing to close its consulate in Houston by Friday.
In a brief statement, U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said that the consulate was ordered closed “to protect American intellectual property and American’s private information.”
“The United States will not tolerate the PRC’s violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated the PRC’s unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs, and other egregious behavior,” Ortagus added.
China condemned the action, calling it an “outrageous and unjustified move which will sabotage China-U.S. relations.” The country’s foreign ministry vowed to respond “with firm countermeasures” if the U.S. doesn’t “revoke this erroneous decision.”
