U.S. Futures Drop on Virus Worry; Dollar Advances

U.S. equity futures fell on Thursday as investors struggled to look past a global resurgence in coronavirus infections that sapped risk appetite yesterday. Treasuries rose with the dollar.

S&P 500 and Dow Industrials contracts pointed to another day of losses, though pre-market gains in large-cap tech shares helped Nasdaq 100 futures erase most of an earlier decline. In Europe, stocks swung from a loss to a gain, with Deutsche Lufthansa AG rallying as its biggest shareholder backed a government rescue package. German fintech Wirecard AG plunged after filing for insolvency. Core European bonds gained.

Worries that lockdowns will be reimposed and economies re-opened more slowly has hurt sentiment, as investors weigh reports of new daily records for infections in Texas, Florida and California. Meanwhile, health leaders called on the U.K. to prepare for a possible second wave, and Australia recorded its largest spike in cases since April.

Elsewhere, stocks in Asia fell the most in almost two weeks. China and Hong Kong were shut for holidays. West Texas crude oil fell below $38 a barrel, while gold pared an earlier gain.

U.S. jobless claims, durable goods and GDP data are due Thursday.A rebalance of Russell indexes is due on Friday.

Stocks

Futures on the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.5% as of 7:25 a.m. New York time.Nasdaq 100 Index futures fell 0.1%.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.2%.The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 0.7%.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.3%.The euro sank 0.4% to $1.1202.The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.2436.The Japanese yen weakened 0.2% to 107.27 per dollar.South Africa’s rand weakened 0.3% to 17.4351 per dollar.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 0.66%.Germany’s 10-year yield dipped three basis points to -0.47%.France’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to -0.123%.Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 0.151%.

Commodities

Brent crude dipped 1% to $39.90 a barrel.Gold strengthened 0.1% to $1,762.54 an ounce.LME aluminum decreased 0.6% to $1,566.50 per metric ton.

U.S. Futures Drop on Virus Worry; Dollar Advances, Bloomberg, Jun 24