Opening Bell: Futures, Stocks Mixed On Rate Uncertainty, COVID Spike; USD Flat

 | Jun 28, 2021 06:46

  • Delta variant threatens summer travel, leading to selloff in sector shares
  • Bitcoin moves higher but technicals suggest longer-term trend is lower
  • h2 Key Events/h2

    US futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500, NASDAQ and Russell 2000 started the trading week off  higher, while European stocks fluctuated, after a mixed Asian session on Monday. Market indecision is being driven by off-again, on-again concerns of rising inflation and uncertainty about the timing of the Fed's stance on how transitory the economic phenomenon might be and the timeframe for tightening of the loosest monetary policy in history.

    Travel related shares plummeted following a spike in the number of COVID cases in Asia. The dollar was little changed.

    h2 Global Financial Affairs/h2

    Contracts on the S&P 500 extended the best weekly advance of the index since February, but contracts on the NASDAQ doubled their gains. However, futures on the small cap Russell 2000 and, at time of writing, the mega cap Dow index, were in the red.

    The the pan-European STOXX 600 Index wobbled between gains and losses, as an advance in chemical stocks offset a selloff of travel stocks, as the highly contagious Delta variant threatens to derail summer travel in Europe.

    German travel company Tui AG (DE:TUIGn) sold off, losing 3%.