U.S. Futures Mixed; Nasdaq Outperforms as Covid Cases Rise

U.S. stocks are seen opening mixed Thursday, with tech stocks outperforming ahead of key inflation and unemployment data, while corporate earnings continue.

At 07:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), the Dow futures contract fell 179 points, or 0.6%, while S&P 500 futures traded 8 points, or 0.3%, lower, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 40 points, or 0.3%.

Wall Street has bounced strongly this week, helped in no small part Pfizer ‘s (NYSE:PFE) news of a successful trial of its Covid-19 vaccine. However, the rotation that followed in favor of cyclical stocks looks to have ended, at least for now, as tech stocks have started to regain favor amid a worrying rise in Covid-19 cases.

The United States reported over 142,000 new infections on Wednesday, an all-time daily high for a second day in a row, while the number of people hospitalized with the virus climbed almost 65,000, the highest ever during the pandemic.

New York imposed a new round of social distancing restrictions on Wednesday, in an attempt to protect a state that was hit hard in the early stages of the U.S. outbreak.

This news puts the focus on Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) after the biotech company said on Wednesday it was on track to report early data from a late-stage trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine later this month.

There are also earnings due from Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), with its theme park and cruise businesses roiled by Covid-related interruptions, and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), which has stumbled this year on weak demand from carriers and small- and mid-sized business customers.

Also of interest Thursday will be key economic data. The October consumer price index is due at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), and is seen rising 0.1%, less than the 0.2% increase the previous month. Initial jobless claims are seen at 735,000, an improvement from the 751,000 filed the week before, while continuing jobless claims are expected to be 6.9 million.

Oil prices consolidated Thursday, after recent strong gains as the International Energy Agency cut forecasts for global oil demand by 1.2 million barrels a day amid new lockdown measures.

Traders are also now looking for the major oil producers, a group known as OPEC+, to maintain supply curbs. These producers meet at the end of the month to discuss a supply increase of 2 million barrels per day scheduled for January, amid growing expectation that the move will be postponed.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s crude oil supply data, due later in the day, will also be of interest.

U.S. crude futures traded 0.4% lower at $41.27 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract fell 0.4% to $43.61. Both contracts are up more than 12% this week.

Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,869.00/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.1810.