US pre-open: Futures firmly in the red after global Covid-19 death toll tops four million

Wall Street futures had stocks opening sharply lower ahead of the bell on Thursday as rising global Covid-19 cases and a state of emergency in Tokyo ahead of the already delayed Olympic Games shook investor confidence.

As of 1225 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 1.36%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 1.30% and 1.25% lower, respectively.

The Dow Jones closed 104.42 points higher on Wednesday.

However, confidence regarding a global economic rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic was shaken after Japan declared a state of emergency in Tokyo for the upcoming Olympics, with spectators set to be banned from the games.

News that the global Covid-19 death toll topped 4.0m on Wednesday was also in focus, with multiple countries around the world being confronted with rising cases due to variants of the coronavirus.

Stocks tied to an economic reopening traded lower in the pre-market, with Carnival, Royal Caribbean, American Airlines, Delta and Boeing all firmly in the red.

Market participants rotated into Treasuries yet again prior to the open, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to below 1.27%, its lowest point since February.

On the macro front, this week's jobless claims report from the Labor Department will be published at 1330 BST, while consumer credit change figures for May will follow at 1900 BST.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Thursday.