Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures rose early Wednesday, building on recent strength that’s pushed the major averages to record highs.
Futures for the 30-stock index gained 69 points, or 0.2%, at 30,239.
Futures for the S&P 500 picked up four points, or 0.1%, at 3,706.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite lost 15.75 points, or 0.1%, to 12,621.75.
Fueling the rally is optimism about the U.K.’s rollout of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. Hope that the U.S. Senate will soon agree to a stimulus package to prop up markets as the coronavirus outbreak rages on has also boosted sentiment.
Stocks that would benefit most from a successful vaccine rollout gained in the pre-market. Shares of American Airlines rose 2.7% and Carnival Corp. gained 2.3%.
More than 200,000 Americans are testing positive for the coronavirus every day on average, according to an analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.
The United States has seen one million new cases in just four days, bringing the national total to over 15 million.
The U.S. Labor Department’s so-called JOLTs report will be released at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting job openings to hit 6.3 million in October, down slightly from the 6.4 million in September.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.3% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.8%.
Oil prices took on 14 cents to $45.74 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $14.30 to $1,860.60 U.S.