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Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes slipped early Thursday, amid further uncertainty around fiscal stimulus talks and the election.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials retreated 37 points, or 0.1%, to 28,097.
Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 5.5 points, or 0.2%, at 3,427.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite slipped 18 points, or 0.2%, to 11,673.25.
Thursday’s losses were kept in check after shares of Tesla, Coca-Cola, Dow Inc, AT&T and CSX all rose on strong earnings results.
Companies continued to file third-quarter earnings reports on Wednesday, with both electric car maker Tesla and burrito chain Chipotle offering investors updates on their businesses.
Elon Musk’s Tesla reported its fifth straight quarter of profits, reporting per-share earnings of 76 cents versus the consensus estimate of 57 cents expected by analysts. The company had already reported that it delivered 139,300 vehicles during the quarter, a new record for Tesla.
CEO Musk noted on the company’s earnings call that Tesla plans to start delivering cars from new factories in Brandenburg, Germany and Austin, Texas in 2021 but that output could be slow at first. The stock was up 5% in premarket trading.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, meanwhile, saw its equity fall 4% in extended trading after it said a shift to delivery orders ballooned costs and led to reduced drink sales in the third quarter.
Futures came under some pressure overnight after U.S. officials said Iran is taking steps to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, and Russia has obtained American voter information.
The fate of coronavirus relief may in part be tied to reports on the health of the U.S. labour market, with the latest update to jobless claims totals due Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The government reported last week the highest level of so-called initial claims since Aug. 22 in a sign that the recovery from the Covid-19 recession may be losing steam.
Traders continued to watch stimulus talks as markets swing this month on headlines regarding the negotiations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, continued to offer investors some incremental room for optimism late Wednesday.
The deputy chief of staff said that the White House and Democrats continue to narrow their differences over health priorities, but that more needs to be done to ensure schools are safe.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 dipped 0.7% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 0.1%.
Oil prices gained 20 cents to $40.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices skidded $19.30 to $1,910.20.
