Futures climb higher
U.S. stock futures were trading higher on Thursday even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues advancing in certain states that recently reopened their economies, raising fears of a new wave of the virus.
Florida reported 2,783 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, marking the third time in a week the state set a new daily record. Arizona saw 25 additional deaths and 2,392 new cases, a new daily high.
Louisiana and Oklahoma have also seen their cases grow more than 50% in the past week. More than 2,126,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in the U.S. and at least 115,000 people have died.
China’s capital Beijing has cancelled over 1,000 flights and ordered all its schools, universities and entertainment venues to close following a new outbreak of the virus.
By 5:25 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures indicated a gain of 112.5 points, or 0.43% to 26,305.5. S&P 500 futures added 12.37 points, or 0.4% to 3,130.62 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 43.12 points, or 0.43% to 10,004.62.
Powell testimony continues
Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell testified remotely before the Senate banking committee on Tuesday and, as expected, had bad things to say about the American economy.
During his testimony, he warned lawmakers of “significant uncertainty” surrounding the “timing and strength” of the US economic recovery.
“Recently, some indicators have pointed to a stabilization and in some areas a modest rebound in economic activity. That said, the levels of output and employment remain far below their pre-pandemic levels and significant uncertainty remains about the timing and strength of the recovery,” Powell said.
“Until the public is confident that the disease is contained, a full recovery is unlikely,” he added.
Powell said that more support from the Fed and Congress could be needed to get the economy moving again. He will continue his testimony today, this time in front of the House Financial Services Committee from 12 p.m. ET.
Crude futures lower ahead of EIA report
Meanwhile, crude futures tumbled early Wednesday as traders awaited the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to released its weekly crude oil inventories report.
The report, which is due at 10:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show crude inventories fell 152,000 barrels after a build of 5.7 million barrels in the previous week.
As of this writing, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $37.98 a barrel, down 40 cents, or 1.04%. International Brent crude futures dropped 30 cents, or 0.73% to $40.66 a barrel.
