US pre-open: Futures point to losses amid fears of second wave

US futures were pointing to losses on Monday as market participants became concerned that maybe the White House was pushing to reopen the nation's economy too soon.

As of 1235 BST, Dow futures were down 0.69%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.71% and 0.36% weaker, respectively.

The Dow closed 455.43 points higher on Friday as investors ignored the biggest single-month job losses report in history as expectations of an economic reopening outweighed the negative data.

However, after South Korea warned of a new coronavirus cluster stemming from a nightclub, while Japan and Singapore also reported new Covid-19 cases, investors were seemingly wary that the US might be looking to open for business a touch too soon.

Oanda's Craig Erlam said: "Fears of a second wave are already emerging in South Korea, China and maybe even Germany which should be a lesson to those countries preparing for looser restrictions. Of course, a rise in cases in unavoidable unless these restrictions remain in place until we have better testing, a vaccine and/or a cure. The scale is what is important and will be closely monitored.

"Perhaps it's second phase fears that's weighing a little on stock markets today, although it is a very quiet session in general and that's not expected to change with the ringing of the opening bell on Wall Street. Earnings season has passed us by with investors taking the dire scenario in their stride, in much the same way that the woeful economic numbers - the latest of which being the US jobs report on Friday - have been given a free pass."

In corporate news, shares in tech giant Apple were down ahead of the bell after the group said it would start to reopen its US stores later in the week.

On the macro front, Federal Reserve heads Raphael Bostic and Charles Evans will deliver speeches at 1700 BST and 1730 BST, respectively.