Futures dip as S&P 500 heads towards best November ever

[November 30, 2020]  By Shriya Ramakrishnan

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dipped on Monday as investors paused ahead of crucial economic indicators later this week to take stock of what was set to be a record-setting month for the benchmark S&P 500.

Data giant S&P Global Inc dipped 1.6% in premarket trading as it announced a $44 billion deal to buy IHS Markit Ltd. IHS shares rose about 7%.

Wall Street's main indexes were set to finish the month up more than 10% as investors bet that progress in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine would fuel a swift economic rebound next year.

Prospects of a smooth handover of power to President-elect Joe Biden after weeks of legal challenges mounted by incumbent President Donald Trump have also aided the stock-market rally.

Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were set to receive their first classified presidential daily briefing on Monday, the first step toward the transfer of responsibility for the most sensitive intelligence to a new administration.

Shares of oil majors including Chevron Corp, Occidental Petroleum and ConocoPhillips were down between 1% and 2.4%, tracking a fall in crude prices on uncertainty about whether OPEC+ would agree to extend large output cuts at talks this week.

At 07:02 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 0.61%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 0.41% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 0.01%.

Macy's Inc, Walmart Inc and Best Buy Co Inc slipped between 0.2% and 1.9% as masked shoppers turned up in smaller numbers at major U.S. retailers on Black Friday as early online deals and concerns about a spike in COVID-19 cases dulled enthusiasm for trips to the mall.

After an explosion in COVID-19 infections and business restrictions this month that undermined the U.S. labor market recovery, focus will be on the monthly employment report and the Fed's Beige Book as well as an address by Fed Chair Jerome Powell before the Senate Banking Committee.

(Reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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