US pre-open: Futures have September rally extending another session
Wall Street futures had stocks opening higher for a second-straight session on Wednesday as despite some conflicting headlines around the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.
As of 1230 BST, Dow futures were up 0.65%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.64% and 0.97% firmer, respectively.
The Dow Jones closed 215.61 points higher on Tuesday as equities clawed back some of the prior session's losses.
Sentiment got a boost after Swiss pharma giant Roche revealed that it would be rolling out a new rapid antigen test throughout Europe before the end of the month, with the company also planning to apply for an emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration.
However, news that Donald Trump and FDA head Stephen Hahn's much-touted plasma treatment did not appear to be effective against the coronavirus caused some to taper their expectations.
Also in focus, while lawmakers still appeared to be miles apart in their negotiations around another relief programme for Americans, the White House said overnight that the Centers for Disease Control would use its authority to halt the eviction of US citizens until the end of 2020.
IG's Chris Beauchamp said: "The apparent disconnect between markets and the real world gets wider and wider, fuelled by low interest rates, the prospect of more easing, but also the hope that the overall situation will continue to improve.
"On that point, there still seems no sign of a real downward turn in data. True, many datapoints have flattened out after the March-June rebound, but flattening out is not the same as falling."
On the macro front, mortgage applications fell 2% in the week ended 28 August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, marking the third consecutive period of decrease. Applications to refinance a home loan slipped 3.1% and homebuyer mortgage applications went down 0.2% despite the average fixed 30-year mortgage rate decreasing three basis points to 3.08%.
Still to come, ADP employment change figures will be released at 1315 BST, the ISM's August New York Index will be published at 1445 BST, while July factory order data and a speech from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's John Williams will both be in focus at 1500 BST.
Federal Reserve governors Loretta Mester and Neal Kashkari will also deliver comments at 1700 BSt and 1900 BST, respectively.
In corporate news, Macy's shares were higher ahead of the bell after the retailer beat forecasts on the back of a 53% jump in online sales, while Tesla shares gained 2.9% in pre-market trading after falling 4.7% in the previous session.