By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are set to open higher Wednesday, with the dominant tech sector rebounding after its hefty selloff, while lawmakers prepare for a vote to potentially advance a stimulus bill.
At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), S&P 500 Futures traded 20 points, or 0.6%, higher, the Dow Futures contract rose 100 points, or 0.4%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 160 points, or 1.4%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.3%, or 632 points Tuesday. The S&P 500 was down 2.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite slumped 4.1% into correction territory, with losses of about 10% in the past three days.
"This has been a correction that was probably not that surprising, given the move in August in the tech sector," said Salman Baig, an investment manager at Unigestion in a Reuters report, but he sees the outlook for Big Tech as positive.
"It's exactly those companies that are [the] new economy - they are benefiting because of their model, the industry, the virus."
Regarding the coronavirus,AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) ADRs fell 2.2% after the Anglo-Swedish pharma company paused a late-stage trial of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate due to an unexplained illness in a study participant. The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of three coronavirus vaccines in late-stage, Phase 3 trials in the U.S.
Elsewhere, Tiffany (NYSE:TIF) stock fell 8.5% in premarket as French luxury giant LVMH (OTC:LVMUY) withdrew its takeover offer for the jeweller.
In Washington, Republican Senate leaders look to hold a vote later this week on a slimmed-down stimulus bill. This bill is much smaller than the $2.2 trillion package that House Democrats are seeking, but time is becoming very limited ahead of the presidential election.
“September is likely to be the last opportunity to pass fiscal measures until well after the election and potentially early 2021,” analysts at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday. “Incumbents of both parties might be wary of inaction for such a long period.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its latest JOLTS job opening data at 10 AM ET (1400 GMT). Analysts tracked by Investing.com expect to see 6 million, which would be more than the 5.889 million reported for the previous month.
Crude prices bounced Wednesday, recovering some of the previous session’s sharp selloff which saw the international benchmark Brent contract trade below $40 a barrel for the first time since late June.
The oil market will have a lot to digest during the session, with the OPEC monthly report and the Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy Outlook due for release later Wednesday.
Additionally, the weekly API report is likely to show another draw in crude stockpiles for the week ended Sept. 6.
U.S. crude futures traded 1.2% higher at $37.20 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 0.6% to $40.03.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.7% to $1,929.95/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.1766.