U.S. Futures Mixed; Vaccine News Helps Balance Treasury/Fed Spat

By Peter Nurse   

Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening mixed Friday, with investors having to digest fresh restrictions as Covid-19 cases rise, tensions between the Treasury and the Federal Reserve as well as more positive vaccine news and renewed fiscal stimulus talks.

At 7:15 AM ET (1215 GMT), the Dow Futures contract fell 27 points, or 0.1%, while S&P 500 Futures traded flat, and Nasdaq 100 Futures was up 27 points, or 0.2%. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 indices are near breakeven for the week, but the Dow is currently on course for its best month since 1987 and the S&P 500 for its best since April. The Nasdaq Composite is heading for its second up week in three.

The U.S. set a new single-day record of 185,000 new Covid-19 cases Thursday, with the number of patients hospitalized jumping nearly 50% in the last two weeks, prompting states to impose new restrictions to try and curb the spread.

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered a 10 PM. curfew in the most populated U.S. state, starting Saturday, while the Center for Disease Control urged Americans not to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Also weighing on sentiment was a disagreement between the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve over whether some of the emergency programs implemented to support the economy during the recession still need to be funded. 

This contrasted with news that Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had agreed to revive talks to craft a new fiscal relief package.

Helping the tone Friday was Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) announcing it would be applying to the U.S. FDA later today for emergency use authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine, which it is developing in conjunction with German BioNTech. The pharma giant said it could start shipping the vaccine as soon as it received approval.

Both the earnings and economic data slates are quiet Friday, with quarterly numbers from Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) the only release of note.

Oil prices edged higher Friday, continuing a largely positive week despite concerns about demand growth given the growing number of coronavirus cases and signs of a slowdown in the U.S. labor market. 

U.S. crude futures traded 0.2% higher at $41.97 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 0.4% to $44.37, both remaining well above the $40 mark after the gains earlier in the week on the back of vaccine optimism.

Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,863.95/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.1869.

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