S&P, Dow futures retreat as commodity losses weigh

[August 09, 2021]  By Ambar Warrick

(Reuters) - The S&P and the Dow index futures fell from record highs on Monday with oil stocks reeling from a more than 4% slump in crude prices on concerns over rising COVID-19 cases in Asia.

A street sign for Wall Street is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, New York, U.S., July 19, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Oil and gas firms Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp, Halliburton Co and Schlumberger NV dropped between 1.4% and 2.5% in premarket trade, as rising coronavirus cases particularly in China, raised fears of new curbs that could hurt demand. [O/R]

Metal miners also came under pressure from steep declines in copper and gold prices on concerns over Chinese demand. Freeport-Mcmoran Inc, the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, fell more than 1%. [GOL/] [MET/L]

Investors awaited fresh catalysts to push the market higher, after strong jobs data saw the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones end last week at record highs.

Progress toward the passing of a $1 trillion bipartisan U.S. infrastructure bill will be a point of focus this week, after details of the bill gained support in the Senate over the weekend.

A meeting of Federal Reserve leaders in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this month, is also expected to shed more light on the central bank's potential plan to trim its stimulus program, in the wake of rising inflation and strength in the job market.

U.S. S&P 500 E-minis were down 5.75 points, or 0.13%, at 06:09 am ET. Dow E-minis were down 78 points, or 0.22%, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 13.5 points, or 0.09%.

A stellar earnings season has seen U.S. stocks surge to record highs over the past two weeks, as several consensus-beating results from major firms reinforced faith in a post-COVID economic recovery this year.

Analysts expect second-quarter profit growth of 92.9% for S&P 500 companies, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Of the 427 companies in the index that have reported earnings so far, 87.6% beat analyst expectations, the highest on record.

Sanderson Farms Inc gained 5.8% after a media report that the chicken producer is in advanced talks with Cargill Inc and agricultural investment firm Continental Grain Co to sell itself in a $4.5 billion deal.

(Reporting by Ambar Warrick; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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