U.S. Stocks Set To Open Lower As Virus Worries Increase

Previous Rally Is Set To Be Tested

S&P 500 futures are losing about 2.5% in premarket trading as the U.S. has accumulated more coronavirus cases than China.

The latest data from Johns Hopkins University shows 85,996 cases in the U.S., 81,897 cases in China, and 80,589 cases in Italy. In Europe, Spain and Germany have recently demonstrated alarming increases in the number of COVID-19 patients.

Yesterday’s major rally, which happened despite the record U.S. Initial Jobless Claims, will now be put to a test.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump is said to evaluate plans on the potential reopening of the U.S. economy. These plans may include sorting counties into low, medium, and high risk baskets, and allowing business and movement according to the risk level.

However, it remains to be seen how this plan could be implemented and whether the upcoming coronavirus data will allow it to proceed in the near term.

Dollar Rebounds, Oil Moves Down

The U.S. dollar is slowly rebounding against a broad basket of currencies after several days of material downside which took the U.S. Dollar Index from 104 to under 100.

This rebound is putting pressure on gold, which recently failed to get past the $1700 level despite the favorable fundamental situation – gold is one of the preferred safe haven assets, while gold mines face shutdowns around the world. This setup is unfavorable for gold mining stocks.

Oil showed weakness yesterday as it failed to show any upside on a very optimistic day for the world markets. Today, oil continues to move down as the worsening coronavirus situation puts pressure on oil demand.

Oil majors like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP, Total have experienced material upside moves in recent days, and today market participants will learn whether these moves were sustainable or not.

Weekend Factor May Be In Play Today

The major supportive measures for the U.S. economy have already been announced, and the focus shifts to the pace of the virus spread. In previous weeks, market participants have seen material increases in coronavirus cases over the weekend.

Now that the U.S. has the largest coronavirus outbreak in the world, there is a material potential for big coronavirus numbers to be accumulated over the weekend. This factor may increase traders’ desire to fix some profits after a major rally.