US pre-open: Futures lower on first anniversary of Covid-19 sell-off

Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Tuesday, twelve months to the day that the Covid-19 pandemic bull market began and stocks tumbled 30% at the fastest pace in history.

As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.41%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.36% and 0.02% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 103.23 points higher on Monday, taking a small bite out of last week's losses.

Tuesday's pre-market losses came despite the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note continuing to retreat after hitting a 14-month high last week, currently sitting at around 1.63%.

IG's Chris Beauchamp said: "As the number of big earnings releases continues to dwindle, and with key testimony on both the monetary and fiscal side expected today, plus a looming long weekend for US and UK markets, the list of 'reasons' to buy keeps getting smaller, and the litany of reasons to stay cautious gets longer. Thus it is not surprising to see equity markets in the red this morning, giving back the ground gained yesterday.

"Even fresh reports of a new infrastructure stimulus in the US have been treated with a degree of caution, investors preferring to wait for more concrete evidence before becoming too keen on jumping back into the water. Tech stocks continue to outperform, as the growth to value rotation starts to shift back in the other direction, as some of the optimism regarding a reopened economy falls away. Even in the US, where vaccinations are proceeding apace, the risk of a fresh wave remains, and in an environment where lockdowns potentially return later in the year, the attractions of growth stocks will come back to the fore."

On the macro front, new home sales data for February will be published at 1400 GMT.

Elsewhere, Federal Reserve heads James Bullard, Raphael Bostic, Tom Barkin and Lael Brainard will deliver speeches throughout the day, while chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will both testify in front of the House Committee on Financial Services at 1600 GMT.

In the corporate space, Carnival will report earnings before the open, while Adobe and much talked about retailer GameStop will update on recent trading after the close.