S&P 500: Futures fail to track Wall Street’s losses above 3,200

• S&P 500 refrains from extending the previous day’s losses while bouncing off 3,214.
• Sino-American tussle intensifies, US fiscal package delayed till next.
• Early-month PMIs will decorate the calendar, risk catalysts to keep the driver’s seat.

S&P 500 Futures makes rounds to 3,233/35 while stretching the U-turn from a four-day low during the Asian session on Friday. The risk gauge snapped four-day winning streak on Thursday as an escalation in the US-China tension, joined uncertainty surrounding the American phase 4 aid package and the coronavirus (COVID-19) woes. However, the US Federal Reserve’s efforts to keep the markets liquid help the quote to remain positive after the worst day in over a week.

Read: Wall Street Close: Indexes throw in the towel on turnaround-Thursday

Talking about the latest news concerning the Sino-American tussle, US President Donald Trump now frets about the trade deal with China whereas Global Times highlight the risk of American spied being expelled from the dragon nation’s land. Additionally, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo keeps attacking Beijing with his fiery speech that blames the world’s second-largest economy on multiple grounds including trade, politics and ethics.

On the other hand, the Financial Times (FT) came out with the news that the much-awaited stimulus announcement from the US Senate is now delayed until next week as the policymakers jostle over the plan. The news quotes comments from the Republican leader in the US Senate Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top-ranking Democrat to justify the news.

Pandemic numbers from America crosses 4.0 million mark and the shortage of resources is likely gaining market attention, which in turn exerts additional burden on the risk-tone sentiment.

Alternatively, the Federal Reserve’s announcement to increase the boundaries for firms entry into three lending facilities, namely Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) and counterparties for the Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF) and Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF) keep the markets afloat. Furthermore, news that the British employers have turned positive about hiring and upbeat prints of the UK Gfk Consumer Confidence seems to have triggered the latest bounce.

With Japanese markets out for one more day, US Treasury yields remain sluggish around 0.57% whereas stocks in Asia-Pacific also struggle to justify near 1.0% fall of Australia’s ASX 200.

Other than the preliminary PMIs and risk news, the performance of Chinese blue-chips will also be followed closely after the recent pause in the run-up.