US pre-open: Stocks look set to claw back some of Tuesday's losses
Wall Street futures had stocks opening higher ahead of the bell on Wednesday as major indices looked set to attempt to regain some of yesterday's losses.
As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.45%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite futures had the indices opening 0.32% and 0.17% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 167.09 points lower on Tuesday, cutting into gains recorded in the previous session on the back of another round of positive headlines on the Covid-19 vaccine front.
Wall Street stocks looked set to pick up some gains again on Wednesday despite an ever-increasing number of new Covid-19 infection across the US, with the States' seven-day average surpassing 150,000 for the first time ever earlier in the week, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Also in focus was Donald Trump's continued refusal to concede the US election after he fired Chris Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, after he stated that there was no basis to the president's claims that the election has been rigged in any way.
"The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud," Trump said in a tweet that was flagged as being "disputed" by Twitter.
SpreadEx's Connor Campbell said: "After yesterday's losses the markets weren't up to much on Wednesday, taking a breather from their intense vaccine rally-and-retreat.
"Investors aren't taking Donald Trump's refusal to concede seriously, despite him firing the head of election cybersecurity, Christopher Krebs, after Krebs dared to state that there is 'no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised'."
On the macro front, mortgage applications in the United States fell 0.3% in the week ended 13 November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, while `applications to refinance a home loan fell 1.8% and homebuyer mortgage applications rose 3.5%.
"Housing demand remains supported by the ongoing recovery in the job market, and an increased appetite from households seeking more space because of the pandemic,” said Joel Kan, the MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting.
Still to come, monthly housing starts and building permits data will be released at 1330 GMT, while Federal Reserve presidents Charles Evans, John Williams and James Bullard will all deliver comments throughout the course of the day.
In corporate news, Target crushed estimates thanks to new shopper habits helping the group gain market share, while Lowe's revealed quarterly sales had increased 106%.
Sonos, Nvidia and L Brands will report earnings after the close on Wednesday.