US pre-open: Stock futures mixed as Democrats appear on course to control Senate
Wall Street futures were pointing to a mixed open ahead of the bell on Wednesday as the Democratic Party looked set to take control of the Senate.
As of 1250 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.35%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.09% and 1.36% weaker, respectively.
The Dow closed 167.71 points higher on Tuesday following a heavy sell-off in the session before that.
Wednesday's primary focus was Georgia's US Senate special election runoff between Democrat Raphael Warnock and incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler, with the challenger having been projected to win.
Another runoff race between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican David Perdue was said to still be too close to call.
However, if both Democrats win, that would make a 50-50 tie in the upper chamber, with vice president-elect Kamala Harris acting as a tiebreaker, essentially giving the party control of the Senate.
IG's Joshua Mahony said: "With Biden now seemingly on course for a term where both sides of congress are majority Democrat, traders are now looking at a much more disruptive and transformative four-years than previously expected. From a short-term perspective, expectations of a sharp rise in financial stimulus once Biden takes office should lessen the economic hardship associated with the coronavirus.
"However, while we are likely to see a rise in direct payments, a decline in Nasdaq futures does highlight the feeling that Biden will be keen to lessen the influence of big tech going forward."
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield topped 1% for the first time in almost a year on the news.
On the macro front, ADP employment change figures for December will be released at 1315 GMT, while IHS Markit's final composite PMI for December will follow at 1445 GMT and monthly factor orders data for November will be published at 1500 GMT.
No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Wednesday.