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* Dow components Travelers, P&G down after results
* China virus scare hits travel, casino stocks
* Airlines mostly weaker after Southwest earnings
* Futures: Dow down 0.21%, S&P off 0.11%, Nasdaq up 0.02%
(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Sruthi Shankar
Jan 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open lower on
Thursday on rising worries over the coronavirus outbreak in
China that prompted a lockdown of two cities in the country,
while a mixed bag of results added to the dour sentiment.
The benchmark S&P 500 closed slightly higher on Wednesday
but well below its record high after attempting to bounce back
from sharp losses earlier in the week on concerns about the
virus outbreak hitting the global economy.
China put on lockdown on Thursday two cities at the
epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 17 people
and infected nearly 600 amid fears the transmission rate will
accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the
Lunar New Year holidays. "There is some concern that this will turn from an epidemic
to a pandemic," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist
at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
However, Pavlik added it was a reason for investors to take
some profits in an "overbought" market.
Casino and hotel operators including Wynn Resorts Ltd
WYNN.O , Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd MLCO.O and Las
Vegas Sands Corp LVS.N , which draw a large portion of their
revenue from China, were down between and 4% and 5% in premarket
trading.
Airlines stocks were mostly weaker, with Southwest Airlines
Co LUV.N slipping 0.8% after reporting a 21% fall in
fourth-quarter profit due to Boeing 737 MAX costs. American
Airlines Group Inc AAL.O rose 1%, while JetBlue Airways Corp
JBLU.O fell 0.5% despite a better-than-expected profit.
Consumer products firm Procter & Gamble Co PG.N and
insurer Travelers Cos Inc TRV.N , both members of the Dow Jones
Industrial Average .DJI , fell about 2% after reporting
results. At 8:51 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 62 points,
or 0.21%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 3.5 points, or 0.11%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 2.25 points, or 0.02%.
Of the 58 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 67.2%
have topped Wall Street's profit estimates, according to
Refinitiv IBES data. On an average, 65% of the companies beat
profit estimates.
Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc TXN.O fell 1.3% despite
forecasting first-quarter revenue above market expectations, but
bullish brokerage actions on Micron Technology Inc MU.O and
Western Digital Corp WDC.O were set to boost the sector.