Stock futures opened lower Sunday evening as daily coronavirus case counts rose by records in some states.
retail stores in states where Covid-19 cases were spiking anew.
A number of states continued to struggle this weekend with rising coronavirus cases as businesses reopen, with states across the South, West and Midwest hit especially hard. California on Sunday reported a record 4,515 new cases in a 24-hour period, marking the highest so far in one day for the state during the pandemic. Cases in Florida rose by a single-day record of 4,049 based on Saturday’s tally, and cases on Sunday increased by another 3,494.
States including Arizona, Nevada, Missouri, South Carolina, Montana and Utah also saw cases rise by one-day records this weekend, stoking concerns of a broad-based resurgence in the pandemic that could threaten to stunt the nation’s reopening process.
Other regions that had been locked down longer, however, prepared to press ahead with easing stay-in-place orders this week. New York City is set to enter Phase Two of its reopening process on Monday, giving consumer access to hair salons, in-store shopping and outdoor seating at restaurants. An estimated up to 300,000 workers will return to their jobs with this phase of opening in one of the .
New economic data reports have underscored an at least temporary firming of activity as states reopen and allow daily life to inch back toward some form of normalcy. The latest flare-ups in virus cases, however, threaten the pace at which economic activity will move in a more positive direction.
“Our analysis identifies several states that are demonstrating worrying trends according to both the breadth and intensity of the Covid outbreak, including Arizona, Alabama, California, Florida and Georgia, among others,” Deutsche Bank economist led by Justin Weidner wrote in a note on Friday. “These trends continue to point to the presence of downside risks to the economic outlook from the pandemic.”
“However, whether these risks materialize into softer economic activity depends on whether reopening is rolled back either officially, which is likely to be closely tied to possible strains on hospital capacity, or due to a change in behaviors that reasserts social distancing practices,” they added.
Later this week, market participants will receive a number of economic data reports including May existing and new-home sales, which are expected to affirm the rebound in the housing market from the doldrums of April. Tuesday’s Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) will likely show manufacturing sector activity returned to expansion in June for the first time since February, and the level of new unemployment claims will likely have dipped below 1.5 million last week, according to consensus economists.
“Encouragingly, the incoming data so far indicates that the economic downturn appears to have bottomed in April,” Sam Bullard, senior economist for Wells Fargo Securities, wrote in a note Sunday. “That being said, businesses are operating with a great deal of uncertainty not knowing how long it will take for demand to return to pre-pandemic levels.”
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6:07 p.m. ET Sunday: Stock futures tumble as some states’ daily virus case counts rise by records
Here were the main moves at the start of the overnight session for U.S. equity futures, as of 6:07 p.m. ET:
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S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,034.25, down 25.25 points or 0.83%
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Dow futures (YM=F): 25,260.00, down 269 points, or 1.05%
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Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 9,852.25, down 71.25 points, or 0.72%
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