US pre-open: Futures mixed following two days of losses

US futures were pointing to some mixed trading ahead of the bell on Wednesday as the S&P 500 attempted a rebound from its worst two-day rout in four years.

As of 1235 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.15%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.04% and 0.01% higher, respectively.

The Dow closed 879.44 points lower on Tuesday as stocks recorded another day of heavy losses amid concerns about a potentially prolonged global economic slowdown in the wake of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

Tuesday's sell-off accelerated after US health officials cautioned that the virus was "likely" to spread throughout the nation.

Despite the historic losses, Donald Trump tweeted: "Stock Market starting to look very good to me."

The 10-year Treasury yield bounced back to 1.36% early on Wednesday, recovering from a record low of 1.31% during the previous session.

In coronavirus headlines, South Korea reported 169 new cases overnight, bringing the country's total to 1,146, while in Italy, infections hit 325. China reported 406 new confirmed cases and another 52 deaths.

Oanda's Craig Erlam said: "Coronavirus may have been headline news for most of us for the last month but it's taken until this week to truly infect the markets, as investors flee risk amid a growing belief that we have a full-blown pandemic on our hands.

"Cases are popping up right, left and centre outside of China, with the infection and fatality rate in Iran causing particular concerns for the middle east. Italy and South Korea are the other two countries that have been highlighted as being problematic but other countries are far from immune and Tuesday seemed to bring updates of new cases almost on the hour, every hour."

In the corporate space, Best Buy, Booking Holdings, Hostess Brands, L Brands and Office Depot will all report earnings throughout the course of the day.

On the macro front, January's new home sales figures will be released at 1500 GMT.