U.S. stock index futures fell in overnight trading after the House passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus plan on Thursday night, despite Democrats and the Trump administration remaining divided on key items in the legislation.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 100 points, indicating a 108-point loss at the open on Friday. S&P 500 futures fell 0.35%, while Nasdaq 100 futures declined by 0.28%.
The bill likely will not get through the Republican-held Senate and become law. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has opposed the legislation as his caucus resists spending trillions more on the federal response to the pandemic.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met earlier on Thursday in a last minute effort to ink a deal for another coronavirus relief package, but they remained at odds.
“Markets are being surprisingly resilient … in the absence of actual stimulus progress,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, told CNBC. “Clearly markets are watching what’s happening between Secretary Mnuchin and Speaker Pelosi, and I think they’re cautiously optimistic that some type of comprise will be made,” he added.
Stocks rose on Thursday, after both the Dow and S&P 500 spent some of the session in negative territory.
The Dow closed 35 points higher for a gain of 0.1%, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was the relative outperformer, gaining 1.4%.
On Friday investors will get a read on the state of the ongoing economic recovery when September’s jobs report is released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The final jobs report ahead of the election is expected to show a slowdown from August’s levels. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are expecting 800,000 nonfarm payrolls added, down from 1.37 million in August.
Stocks have staged a record rebound since the economic shutdown sent stocks tumbling in March. But the major averages all finished September lower, snapping a five-month win streak, as doubts emerge about the pace and breadth of the recovery.
Zaccarelli noted that while there seems to be a floor under stocks, if the market is to continue moving higher into the end of the year there needs to be strength from more areas of the market.
“For the market to really push higher for the rest of the year we really need to see some participation from the cyclical sectors,” he said, citing industrials and financials in particular.
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