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Stock futures are little modified Monday night as investors worry concerning the prospect of China reinstating pandemic restrictions.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 6 points and was near the flatline. S&P 500 futures were flat while Nasdaq-100 futures added 0.1%.
It follows a volatile trading day that brought the key three indexes down. The Dow dropped 45.41 points, or 0.13%, to 33,700.28. Disney’s 6.3% gain following the return of Bob Iger as its CEO helped mitigate losses for the 30-stock index. Meanwhile the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite shed 0.39% and about 1.1%, respectively.
China saw its first deaths within the mainland from Covid since May over the weekend. It prompted fears amongst investors that the country could bring back restrictions meant to slow virus spread, which might hurt business.
The news out of China pushed investors away from growth stocks and toward defensive sectors like health care and utilities, said David Waddell, CEO of Waddell & Associates. He said it also led to “reflexive” U.S. dollar buying, which gave bond yields upward pressure.
“On low volume days like today, the market gets Pavlovian,” he said. “If you wish to make sense of this market, watch the dollar.”
Federal Reserve officials are also set to talk on Tuesday. Expect appearances from Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, Kansas City Fed President Esther George and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard.
Economic reports due out include the Philadelphia Fed’s nonmanufacturing business outlook survey and the Richmond Fed’s manufacturing index.
Investors are also waiting for earnings reports from Dollar Tree, Best Buy, HP and Nordstrom.
