Wall St futures point to a rebound
U.S. stock futures edged higher on Monday morning, after Friday’s holiday-shortened session saw the Dow Jones industrial average suffer its worst drop since October 2020.
As of 5:50 a.m. ET, futures tied to the Dow were advanced 128 points, or 0.37% to 34,986. S&P 500 futures added 27.75 points, or 0.6% to 4,623.5 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures surged 134.5 points, or 0.84% to 16,185.5.
On Friday, the Dow plummeted 905.04 points, or 2.53%, to end the session at 34,899.34 following reports the coronavirus’ omicron variant first detected in South Africa appeared to spread around the globe.
The S&P 500 gave away 106.84 points, or 2.27% to end the session at 4,594.62, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 2.23% to close at 15,491.66.
Crude futures edge higher after omicron-driven sell-off
In energy markets, crude futures were rallying on Monday as some traders shrugged off concerns about the omicron coronavirus variant and eyed the resumption of Iran nuclear talks.
As of 5:00 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $3.31, or 4.86% to $71.46 a barrel. Global Brent crude futures rose $3.18, or 4.44% to $74.77 a barrel.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, will weigh the threat from the omicron variant when they meet on Wednesday and Thursday.
The group was widely expected to add 400,000 barrels a day, but several reports say it’s now highly likely to abandon that plan.
Traders will also be keeping a close eye on the resumption of top-level Iran nuclear talks whose outcome would have a direct impact on oil prices.
The talks between Iran and world powers are set to resume in Vienna this week and are aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.
The accord gave Iran some sanctions relief, including on oil exports, in return for strict curbs on its nuclear activities.
AMD jumps as Tesla equips AMD Ryzen chips on Model Y EV
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) shares rose in the pre-market trading session on news that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) will begin using a new AMD Ryzen chip in Model Y vehicles in China.
According to a report by Electrek, Tesla has replaced the Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) chips for its infotainment system in favor of an upgraded AMD Ryzen chip.
But as per the report, the upgraded computing power for the Model Y will only be available to customers who buy the car in China, for now.
The electric-automaker has not announced if it will equip the AMD chip in its Model Y EVs in the U.S. and even across the globe.
As of writing, AMD stock was marked $2.46, or 1.59% higher to $157.27 per share.
