US pre-open: Futures point to losses amid fears of 'new' Covid-19 strain

Wall Street futures had stocks opening sharply lower ahead of the bell on Monday amid concerns regarding a "new" strain of Covid-19 in the UK.

As of 1250 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 1.54%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 1.76% and 1.08% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 124.32 points lower on Friday as lawmakers on Capitol Hill struggled to reach an agreement on a new stimulus package.

Republicans and Democrats finally reached a long-awaited stimulus deal over the weekend, a $900.0bn relief package to provide direct payments and jobless aid to struggling Americans.

Congress passed a one-day spending bill in order to avoid a full government shutdown on Monday, with lawmakers set to vote on the relief and funding bill on Monday.

However, sentiment was being battered by fears of an infectious "new" coronavirus strain in the UK, which triggered more severe lockdowns and travel restrictions across the pond.

While the British prime minister cited the "new" strain as his reasoning for effectively cancelling Christmas celebrations for most Britons, a World Health Organisation official later said Downing Street was aware of the variant as far back as September and had also been identified in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia.

The US has now recorded more than 18.26m total cases of Covid-19, while deaths have topped 324,800.

SpreadEx's Connor Campbell said: "The Dow Jones is currently only facing a 0.4% drop after the bell. That’s because Congress have finally reached agreement over the $908.0bn stimulus plan.

"Though, looking at the Dow, the index may have already got everything it could've from the deal in the run-up to the announcement."

On the macro front, the Chicago Fed's November national activity index will be published at 1330 GMT.

In the corporate space, Carnival will update on trading on Monday, while Tesla will make its debut on the S&P 500.