U.S. stock futures traded lower early Monday morning as investors weighed the latest coronavirus news along with a sharp decline in U.S. crude prices. The market was coming off its first back-to-back weekly gains in more than two months.
Futures for Dow Jones Industrials plunged 498 points, or 2.1%, early Monday to 23,661.
Futures for the S&P 500 dumped 55.25 points, or 1.9%, at 2,814.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite stumbled 78.25 points, on 0.9%, to 8,730.75.
Stock futures were following a decline in U.S. oil prices, which raise concerns about how deep the economic slowdown will be this quarter and also hit the prices of energy stocks.
The May contract for West Texas Intermediate, which expires on Tuesday, plunged more than 28% to $13.02 per barrel on weak demand outlook and storage capacity issues.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday the state is “past the high point” of new cases, noting the infection rate has fallen along with coronavirus-related hospitalizations. Cuomo added New York will roll out antibody testing this week. In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy said Saturday: “We’re flattening the curve.”
In Washington, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration and Congress were close to striking a deal on a second round of loans for small businesses. A $349-billion rescue loan program ran out of money on Thursday.
The number of coronavirus related deaths have also risen to more than 165,000 globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S., the death toll has risen to over 41,000.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 backpedaled 1.2% Monday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was off 0.2%.
Oil prices plummeted $6.15 to $12.12 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained 50 cents to $1,699.30 U.S. an ounce.