A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Plunge As President Trump Tests Positive For COVID-19

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, after President Donald Trump said in a tweet early Friday he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19. "Tonight, [the first lady] and I tested positive for COVID-19," the president said.

Investors are awaiting the jobs report from the US. Data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect nonfarm payrolls to increase 894,000 last month, while unemployment rate is projected to decline to 8.2% from 8.4%. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for September and data on factory orders for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 418 points to 27,271 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 54.50 points to 3,313.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 264.50 points to 11,310.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 7,278,380 with around 207,800 deaths. India reported a total of at least 6,394,060 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 4,847,090 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 2.8% to trade at $39.80 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 2.7% to trade at $37.66 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today following news of Trump's positive Covid-19 test. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.4%. The French CAC 40 Index declined 0.5%, while German DAX 30 declined 0.7% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5%.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.67% following resumption of trading on Tokyo Stock Exchange after an outage in the previous session. Markets in India, Shanghai and Hong Kong were closed for holiday.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Raymond James upgraded Targa Resources Corp. TRGP from Outperform to Strong Buy and raised the price target from $25 to $26.

Targa Resources shares fell 3.2% to close at $13.58 on Thursday.

Breaking News

• Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio Inc. NIO on Friday said September was a record month for deliveries. The Shanghai-based company reported delivering 4,708 in the month, a growth of 133.2% year-over-year.
• The iconic Hugh Hefner-founded Playboy Enterprises Inc plans to go public again soon with a Nasdaq listing under the symbol "PLBY." The reorganization will be carried out through a special purpose acquisition company.
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS announced plans to acquire the credit card business of General Motors Company GM for $2.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• Twilio Inc TWLO issued strong guidance for the quarter ended September 30th. The company said it expects preliminary revenue will be ahead of previously issued guidance of $401 million to $406 million.