Futures hold steady as investors shrug off Trump impeachment

[December 19, 2019]  By Uday Sampath Kumar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were nearly flat on Thursday as investors looked past the impeachment of President Donald Trump, who is unlikely to be removed from office.

On Wednesday, Trump became the third U.S. president to be impeached, but the Republican-controlled Senate is widely expected not to convict him. No U.S. president has been removed from office in the country's 243-year history.

The S&P 500 snapped a record-setting rally on Wednesday, after closing at all-time highs every day for four straight sessions on a breakthrough in U.S.-China trade talks and hopes for a smoother Brexit.

But with few updates on the trade war expected before the end of the year, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's hard line on Brexit negotiations, analysts said the market had little incentive to keep setting new records.

Trading volumes are also expected to taper off ahead of the Christmas holidays.

At 7:19 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were up 35 points, or 0.12%. S&P 500 e-minis <EScv1> were up only 0.75 points, or 0.02%, while Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQcv1> were nearly unchanged.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., August 12, 2019. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

Among scant big corporate movers premarket, Micron Technology Inc <MU.O> rose 3.5% after signaling a recovery in its business in 2020 and saying it had received licenses to supply some products to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd <HWT.UL>.

The stock looked set to boost the Nasdaq <.IXIC>, which has gained for the past six sessions as the outlook on domestic growth stays largely optimistic following a string of better-than-expected economic indicators.

The weekly Labor Department report on initial claims for state unemployment benefits is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Cisco Systems Inc <CSCO.O> rose 1.1% as Barclays raised its rating on the stock to "overweight".

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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