Stock futures fall after strong three-day rally as virus threat continues

[March 27, 2020]    By Uday Sampath Kumar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday, a day after the S&P 500 and Dow posted their best three-day run since the 1930s, as the United States faced the prospect of becoming the next global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Despite a jittery start to the week, all three major indexes have jumped between 13.3% and 17.6% so far after unprecedented policy easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve and hopes of a $2.2 trillion government stimulus aid bill.

Debate on the proposal, aimed at flooding the country with cash in a bid to counter the economic impact of the intensifying outbreak, is scheduled to start in the U.S. House of Representatives later on Friday.

At 05:30 a.m. EDT, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were down 443 points, or 1.99%, S&P 500 e-minis <EScv1> were down 51.5 points, or 1.97% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQcv1> were down 161 points, or 2.05%.

SPDR S&P 500 ETFs <SPY.P> were down 1.99%.

The S&P 500 index <.SPX> closed up 6.24% at 2,630.07​ on Thursday.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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