US pre-open: Futures lower following record close for Dow Jones and S&P 500

Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Tuesday after the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed at fresh record highs in the previous session on the back of some strong economic data.

As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.12%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.20% and 0.25% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 373.98 points higher on Monday after major indices took a break from trading over the Good Friday long weekend.

Market participants were continuing to cheer Friday's stellar jobs report and a surge in the gauge of services industry activity as a result of a rebounding US economy amid the nation's accelerated Covid-19 vaccine rollout.

Also in focus, the yield on the benchmark 10-Year Treasury note slipped off recent highs to around 1.70%, easing fears around inflation, as was Joe Biden's $2.0trn infrastructure proposal and his intention to up the corporate tax to 28% to fund it.

Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter said: "Monday was the first chance for markets to react to the bumper non-farm payrolls figure from Friday, where a hugely better than expected 916000 jobs were added, while the unemployment rate also declined to 6%. Coupled with a strong services activity report which also jumped to a record high, and with the vaccination rollout also advancing strongly, gains across the board reflected the renewed optimism.

"Alongside the impending effects of the major stimulus packages on spending and infrastructure, the strength of these economic data also raises hopes that any number of solid readings will now become the order of the day as the nascent US economic recovery moves into full growth mode. The concerns of inflation and, in turn, an early spike in interest rates have subsided for the moment, with Treasury yields holding steady, allowing the recently beaten-down growth stocks, and big tech in particular also to participate in the general wave of buying activity."

On the macro front, JOLTS job openings figures for February will be published at 1400 BST, while consumer inflation expectations for March will follow at 1500 BST.

In the corporate space, the fallout from the Archegos scandal has led Credit Suisse to warn that it will take a charge of $4.7bn and turn in a first-quarter pre-tax loss of roughly $960.0m.

Tesla was in the green after posting record first-quarter deliveries yesterday, while GameStop posted pre-market losses on news that it will sell as many as 3.5m shares to assemble a $1.0bn war chest to fund its e-commerce strategy.