Nov 19 (Reuters) – The Nasdaq was set for a record open on Friday as investors sought sectors less exposed to economic ructions ahead of voting on President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion spending bill, while rising COVID-19 cases in Europe also dented sentiment.
The S&P 500 (.SPX) and Dow Jones (.DJI) were set to fall tracking losses in banks, airlines and other economically sensitive sectors. Uncertainty over rising inflation and the Federal Reserve’s policy tightening also kept demand for cyclical stocks low.
The U.S. House of Representatives early on Friday delayed an anticipated vote on passage of Biden’s social programs and climate change investment bill, and reconvened at 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) to complete the legislation. read more
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In Europe, rising COVID-19 cases saw Austria outline plans for a full lockdown, while Germany could follow suit amid a new wave of infections. read more
“There’s some pandemic risk. However, I don’t believe that the U.S. will head in the direction like Austria headed today. If Germany institutes a full lockdown, that would probably have an impact, again, to the supply chain,” said Tom Mantione, managing director, UBS Private Wealth Management in Stamford, Connecticut.
“The biggest risk here to the market is not legislative policy or pandemic… If the Fed chooses to react quickly and aggressively to persistent inflation, then the markets (are) going to have a problem.”
Shares of Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) – stocks which have largely persevered through economic shocks since 2020 – rose between 0.3% and 0.7% in premarket trade, while Netflix (NFLX.O) added more than 1%.
Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) also boosted Nasdaq futures, rising 1.3% in heavy trade after…