Stock futures nearly flat as traders digest latest news

U.S stock futures were mixed as investors digested the latest news on the spread of the coronaviruses and prepared for new inflation data later in the week. The futures on the S&P 500 ES 00 were nearly flat at 4538.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA went down 0.9% last week, the S&P 500 SPX declined 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite COMP fell 2.6%.

Anthony Fauci told CNN's State of the Union that the early reports of the spread of the omicron variant of coronavirus suggest that it might be less dangerous than the delta wave. Reports from South Africa show that while the virus is spreading rapidly, hospitalizations are not. As they prepared for Friday s release of consumer price data, traders were left trying to parse the effects of Friday's mixed report on jobs, which showed slowing jobs growth but a steep decline in unemployment. There was a critical news from China, where the central bank cut reserve requirements for banks while China Evergrande 3333 admitted it might not be able to repay creditors. The economies have adapted well to the pandemic, according to Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management. Consumer and industrial demand is robust, supply bottlenecks are about to be averted, and corporate earnings and margins are healthy, he said. The firm is neutral on bonds and negative on equities.