US pre-open: Futures mixed amid ongoing fears about new strain of Covid-19
Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the bell on Tuesday following a manic session on Monday amid concerns around a "new" strain of Covid-19 spreading across the pond.
As of 1220 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.10%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.09% and 0.33% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 37.40 points higher on Monday after a mid-session turnaround mostly driven by bank stocks helped reverse earlier losses.
Congress passed a new Covid-19 relief and government spending package overnight, with the bill now on its way to Donald Trump's desk for final sign-off by the president.
The stimulus deal includes $300 in extra weekly unemployment benefits, $600 direct checks to all adult US citizens, small business loan funding, aid to airlines, an extension of green energy credits and more.
AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "The new variant of coronavirus, if there is one, has overshadowed everything. For instance, the second stimulus package news literally had no positive influence on the US stock market.
"Speaking from a technical price perspective, there is no doubt that the US stock market moved away from its lows of the day yesterday, but the fact that stock futures are trading lower once again today is a matter of concern. If the selling pressure continues, it is highly likely that we will not only revisit the lows of yesterday, but the price could easily break below yesterday's low."
The US has now recorded a total of 18.47m cases of Covid-19, claiming the lives of 326,772 Americans in the process.
On the macro front, third-quarter GDP figures will be published at 1330 GMT, while consumer confidence numbers for December, existing home sales data for November and the Richmond Fed's December manufacturing index will all follow at 1500 GMT.
No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Tuesday.