The US stock futures fell mainly on Friday, with the exception of Nasdaq-100 futures, with some concern over a national lockdown to battle COVID 19 announced in Austria.
The Dow was down 60.10 points, or 0.2%, at 35,870 on Thursday. The S&P 500 SPX, the S&P 500 SPX, increased by 0.3% to end at a record 4,704. 54 and the Nasdaq Composite COMP climbed by 0.5% to finish at a record 15,993.
All three indexes had been moving higher as the Austrian government announced a nationwide lock down starting Monday for up to 20 days, with all three indexes pointing to records. The movement for the latter will be restricted over the past week, with the lockdown going on for both those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated.
As well as, Germany s health minister Jens Spahn told a news conference on Friday that lockdowns couldn't be ruled out in his country, with record cases this week in Germany and Austria.
I think we are seeing a knee-jerk reaction to Austria's lockdown announcement that is more a reflection of fear than reality. In an emailed comment by Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, said that other countries like the U.K. and others will be very reticent to impose such measures again and will likely adopt a lighter touch if necessary and unless unavoidable.
The midwest of the U.S. is seeing a surge in cases in the Upper Midwest, with a busy travel season about to begin ahead of next Thursday s Thanksgiving holiday.
Oil prices plunged in the wake of the Austrian lockdown news, a asset class under pressure from COVID worries. West Texas Intermediate crude was down CL 00, 2.5% to $77.01 a barrel and Brent BRN 00 crude was down 2.7% to $78.88 a barrel.
A mixed week for stocks is poised to leave the S&P 500 with a gain of nearly 0.4%, a 0.8% gain for the Nasdaq, while the Dow is down 0.6% in the week to Thursday. Markets will close for Thanksgiving, with a shortened trading session on Friday.
The founder of Navellier Associates, Louis Navellier, advised clients in a note Thursday that they should buy any dip in the next two weeks and be positioned for a bullish couple of months.
He said that interest rates would rise and punish growth stocks more than value stocks from a compression of P E multiples. Most likely now is a consolidation phase, with a bias to companies with strong cash flows, and then a sprint by growth names into year-end with a follow-through into traditionally risk-on January. Here is what UBS says.
Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida is due to speak on Friday, though the economic calendar is clear for Friday.
Markets are waiting for President Joe Biden to nominate who will lead the central bank after Jerome Powell's term ends in February. Markets expect Biden to renominate Powell or his main rival, Lael Brainard, one of the Fed Board governors.
Read: Why banks prefer Brainard over Powell to lead the Fed?
The House Democrats were poised to move on President Joe Biden's $1.85 trillion social spending agenda Friday after plans for a Thursday evening vote were delayed by a nearly four-hour speech by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.