- Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up some 100 points.
- Upbeat Chinese data and hopes for halting coronavirus underpin stocks.
- New figures, end-of-quarter flows, and data are all eyed.
US stocks are set to end the first quarter of 2020 on a high note. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up some 100 points, less than 1%, indicating a modest advance. Stocks advanced on Monday after falling on Friday, and seem to be extending their recovery path.
Upbeat Chinese Purchasing Managers’Indexes have underpinned DJIA futures for March. Figures for both the services and manufacturing sectors climbed above 50 points – indicating expansion.
The next moves mostly depend on end-of-quarter flows. Money managers will be adjusting their portfolios after a turbulent quarter, which saw massive sell-offs. Will it lead the Dow Jones higher or lower? That remains a mystery amid extreme volatility.
Coronavirus headlines remain in the spotlight as the number of new US cases and deaths continue rising sharply. There are over 160,000 confirmed Covid-19 infections and around 3,000 deaths. Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York, will deliver a press conference while markets are open.
President Donald Trump wants to keep social distancing guidelines in place until the end of April but has ruled out an outright nationwide lockdown. The Federal Reserve reiterated that that is ready to act.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence gauge for March is also of interest, and will likely plunge. It stood at 130.5 points in February.
Traders are already eyeing three consecutive days of job figures, starting with ADP’s private-sector labor statistics on Wednesday, then weekly jobless claims on Thursday, and finally, the all-important Non-Farm Payrolls data on Friday. All are forecast to show different degrees of the disease’s impact.
DJIA Futures Chart
More: How will coronavirus impact the Unemployment Rate after causing a surge in Jobless Claims?
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