Renewed Virus Fears Put Pressure On Stocks

Tech Stocks Mixed While Broader Market Heads Lower In Premarket Trading

S&P 500 futures are losing ground in premarket trading as traders turn their attention to the surge in the number of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. Yesterday, the country reported more than 140,000 new cases of the disease while New York ordered restaurants, bars and gyms to close at 10 p.m.

Interestingly, Nasdaq futures are up ahead of the market open, suggesting that investors’ demand for stay-at-home stocks continues to recover after the recent sell-off.

Big Tech stocks are mixed in premarket trading, and the market’s ability to continue its upside move will likely depend on the performance of these heavyweight companies.

In recent days, there was a lot of talk about the potential rotation out of tech stocks into value plays, but such rotation will be impossible if the situation with coronavirus gets worse and states are forced to follow New York’s route and introduce additional virus containment measures.

Oil Moves Lower As IEA Cuts Demand Outlook

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has just published its new Oil Market Report and cut its global demand outlook for the fourth quarter by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd).

IEA noted that a COVID-19 vaccine was unlikely to change the outlook for oil demand in the near term while lockdowns in Europe have already put demand under material pressure.

Energy-related stocks have started to pull back during yesterday’s trading session, and this pullback is set to continue today as vaccine optimism fades.

Initial Jobless Claims Decline to 709,000

The U.S. has just provided Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Jobless Claims reports. The Initial Jobless Claims report indicated that 709,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits in a week. Analysts expected Initial Jobless Claims of 735,000.

Meanwhile, Continuing Jobless Claims fell from 7.29 million to 6.79 million compared to analyst consensus of 6.9 million. Better-than-expected employment report may provide some additional support to stocks during today’s trading session.

In addition, the U.S. has released inflation numbers for October. Inflation Rate increased by 1.2% year-over-year compared to analyst consensus which called for growth of 1.3%. Core Inflation Rate grew by 1.6% while analysts expected that it would grow by 1.8%. Inflation was weaker than expected which means that Fed has plenty of work to do in order to drive it above 2%.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.