S&P, Dow futures retreat as coronavirus cases spike; Tesla surges

[November 17, 2020]    By Shivani Kumaresan and Medha Singh

(Reuters) - Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the Dow paused on Tuesday, a day after the indexes notched record closing highs, while Nasdaq 100 futures were boosted by a jump in Tesla on the prospect of the electric-car maker's shares joining the S&P 500.

Tesla Inc <TSLA.O> soared 12.4% premarket in anticipation of a $51 billion trade by index funds adjusting their holdings when the company is added to the benchmark S&P 500 in December.

The S&P 500 and the Dow logged all-time closing highs on Monday after Moderna Inc's <MRNA.O> promising COVID-19 vaccine data boosted hopes of an economic recovery, overshadowing spiking coronavirus cases across the country.

New Jersey, California and Iowa imposed fresh restrictions as the pandemic reached its most perilous point yet in the United States, threatening to worsen as the colder weather sets in.

At 06:37 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis <1YMcv1> were down 0.52% and S&P 500 E-minis <EScv1> were down 0.46%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis <NQcv1> were up 0.21%.

Drug retailers such as Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc <WBA.O> tumbled 10%, while CVS Health Corp <CVS.N> fell 6.4% after Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> launched an online pharmacy for delivering prescription medications in the U.S.

Retail earnings are in focus this week as the third-quarter earnings season enters its tail end. Walmart Inc <WMT.N> rose about 1% after posting a bigger-than-expected increase in quarterly same-store sales.

(Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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