By Ambar Warrick and Devik Jain
(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures jumped on Monday as investors rushed in to take advantage of steep virus-driven losses while awaiting more details on the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Wall Street indexes had slumped between 2% and 3.5% on Friday after news of the variant triggered a global selloff, as countries introduced new travel curbs on fears it could resist vaccinations and upend a nascent economic reopening.
President Joe Biden is due to update the public on the variant and the United States’ response later in the day, the White House said.
Travel stocks, among the worst hit during Friday’s selloff, marked strong premarket gains. Shares of major airline operators rose between 0.3% and 2.6% after plummeting in a range of 3% to 9% on Friday.
Halliburton Co jumped 2.9%, leading gains among energy stocks as oil prices rebounded from Friday’s selloff. [O/R]
“Looking ahead, the crucial question is how dangerous the new variant really is,” analysts at Berenberg wrote in a note.
“Little is known at the moment. However, if COVID-19 vaccinations also work with this variant, markets should rise again towards the end of the year. Otherwise, things are likely to get more uncomfortable.”
At 6:30 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 231 points, or 0.66%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 39.75 points, or 0.86% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 164.5 points, or 1.02%.
Among other premarket movers, shares of casino operators Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International slipped 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively, tracking losses in their Macau units, which were rattled by arrests over alleged links to cross-border gambling and money laundering.
Advanced Micro Devices rose 1.9% after Electrek reported that electric car maker Tesla Inc has started using a new AMD chip in Model Y vehicles in China.
Shares of Tesla also gained 1.9% after a media report that chief Elon Musk urged employees to reduce cost of vehicle deliveries.
TJX Companies added 2.4% after Citigroup upgraded the T.J. Maxx owner’s stock to “buy” from “neutral”.
Apple Inc rose 1.5% after HSBC raised its price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
