US Stock Market Futures: Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq Tick Lower, Thursday's Jobs Data Eyed

U.S. stock futures were under pressure late Wednesday after the Dow Jones and S&P 500 reversed a three-day rally in regular trading on fears of a coronavirus second wave.

The Dow had dropped 170.37 points to close at 26,119.61 and the S&P 500 fell by 11.25 points to close at 3,113.49 on the day. The Nasdaq Composite Index, however, gained 14.66 points and closed at at 9,910.53.

The futures extended the market losses in the regular session, which was triggered by a spike in coronavirus cases in a number of states, like Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Apprehension about the second wave dampened market sentiment, especially impacting travel and leisure stocks. However, some tech shares bucked the trend and continued their rally.

The futures briefly ticked higher Thursday morning after China's Center for Diseases Prevention and Control claimed that a renewed outbreak of the coronavirus in capital Beijing was "under control." The statement by Chief Epidemiologist Wu Zunyou statement boosted European stocks, after earlier news that the outbreak had led to partial shutdowns and flight cancellations in the Chinese capital. But the optmism was short-lived.

At 6.20 a.m. EDT, futures on Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were all down, in keeping with the market direction at Wednesday's close, and indicating the markets coming under pressure on Thursday's opening.

In the U.S., despite the spike in coronavirus cases, more and more cities are easing lockdown rules and business activity is steadily picking up. New York has indicated that it will the start the process of reopening next week. For a start, outdoor dining and salons will be permitted to reopen.

However, the overall picture continuous to remain grim. Thursdays' market direction will largely depend on the weekly unemployment data. The jobless claims data is expected to decline from the previous week, in keeping with the trend seen since April 4, but the overall number is still expected to be still higher than those seen during the Great Recession.

Scott Wren, Wells Fargo’s senior global market strategist, was quoted by CNBC as saying in a note: “We believe the market is pricing in quite a bit of good news and the rally is likely to take a breather in coming months as the recovery evolves. We expect volatility in the coming months as we gauge how the re-openings are going and how consumer spending is progressing.”