US pre-open: Futures mixed following record-setting holiday week
Wall Street futures were pointing to a mostly negative open ahead of the bell on Monday as market participants searched for direction following a record-setting Thanksgiving week.
As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures were down 0.43% and 0.24%, respectively, while Nasdaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.14% firmer.
The Dow closed 37.90 points higher on Friday, putting the blue-chip index firmly on track for its best month in more than three decades.
Investors continued to monitor the heightened level of new Covid-19 cases across the US, with the coronavirus now having claimed in excess of 266,000 American lives - roughly four-and-a-half times the number of US lives lost as a result of the Vietnam War.
Infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci warned on Sunday that the US was now heading into an even more difficult period as far as the pandemic was concerned, one in which restrictions and travel advisories would be necessary.
With the pandemic still in mind, Moderna revealed that final results in its Covid-19 vaccine trial had confirmed that its candidate was "highly effective" in preventing infection, with its shots showing a 94.1% efficacy. It will now submit a filing to the Food and Drug Administration, as well as its European equivalent, requesting emergency authorisations to distribute the vaccine.
SpreadEx's Connor Campbell said: "It was a mixed bag on Monday morning, with no definitive direction for trading as the markets float between news items.
"This as the States just saw its 27th consecutive day of at least 100,000 new daily cases, while November's monthly total crossed 4.0m, more than double the additions made in October. Lacking any other distractions, investors are forced to consider the latest Covid-19 developments, perhaps explaining the at-best muted tone of trading at the start of the week."
On the macro front, this month's Chicago purchasing managers' index will be released at 1445 GMT, while pending home sales for October will be published at 1500 GMT and the Dallas Fed's November manufacturing index will follow at 1530 GMT.
No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Monday.