NEW YORK, Sept 25 — The S&P 500 and the Dow were to set to open lower today, extending their longest losing spree in a year as fears about the outlook for the economy in a future still dominated by the coronavirus weighed on investor sentiment.

Shares of tech mega-caps including Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc and Netflix Inc, which are perceived as relatively safe assets at a time of economic uncertainty, inched higher in premarket trading.

A clutch of downbeat macroeconomic data has weighed on Wall Street in recent weeks, overshadowing signs of progress on Congressional stimulus that, analysts say, is needed to sustain an economic recovery.

“There’s evidence of a slowdown in the United States, which we think is temporary, but it would be reinforced if there is no additional fiscal package,” said Sebastien Galy, senior macro strategist at Nordea Asset Management in Luxembourg.

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The benchmark S&P 500 is on course for its fourth straight weekly decline — its longest losing streak since August 2019 — and is hovering just above correction territory with investors oscillating between beaten-down technology-related shares and value-linked sectors such as industrials.

At 8.59am ET, Dow e-minis were down 100 points, or 0.37 per cent, S&P 500 e-minis were down 8 points, or 0.25 per cent, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 20.75 points, or 0.19 per cent.

Analysts warned the CBOE volatility index, known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, could climb higher toward the end of the quarter next week as well as the November 3 presidential election.

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Costco Wholesale Corp fell 1.7 per cent as the warehouse chain recorded high coronavirus-related costs for the second straight quarter.

Boeing Co edged higher after Europe’s chief aviation safety regulator said the planemaker’s grounded 737 MAX could receive regulatory approval to resume flying in November and enter service by the end of the year.

Novavax Inc rose 5.5 per cent after the drugmaker launched a late-stage trial of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine in the UK. — Reuters