US STOCKS-Futures fall as rising virus cases spark lockdown fears

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* Futures down: Dow 1.6%, S&P 1.3%, Nasdaq 1%

By Medha Singh
Oct 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on
Wednesday, as rising coronavirus cases globally triggered fears
of lockdowns disrupting a nascent economic recovery, while
concerns over a contested presidential election also weighed.
Wynn Resorts WYNN.O and United Airlines Holdings UAL.O ,
companies sensitive to restrictions, dropped more than 1% in
premarket trading. Energy firms such as Occidental Petroleum
Corp OXY.N fell 2.8% on concerns over fuel demand. O/R
New cases and hospitalizations set records in the U.S.
Midwest, while in Europe, concerns over a national lockdown in
France sapped investor appetite for risk. MKTS/GLOB
Spiraling pandemic, elevated unemployment levels and U.S.
lawmakers failing to strike a deal on fresh fiscal stimulus
before the Nov. 3 election sent the S&P 500 and tech-heavy
Nasdaq to their lowest close in three weeks on Tuesday.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX spiked to its highest level
in nearly two months as investors feared a contentious election
among other outcomes in the final six-day stretch to the White
House race. Democratic challenger Biden leads President Donald Trump
nationally by 10 percentage points, according to the
Reuters/Ipsos poll but the competition is tighter in swing
states, which will decide the victor. At 06:28 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 1.64% at
26,918 points and S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 fell 1.35% to 3,337.25
points. Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 dropped 1.05% to 11,465
points.
Microsoft Corp 's MSFT.O quarterly results surpassed
analysts targets, benefiting from a pandemic-driven shift to
working from home and online learning. However, its shares fell
2% after rising 35% so far this year.
The other Big Tech companies - Apple AAPL.O , Alphabet
GOOGL.O , Amazon AMZN.O and Facebook FB.O - which are due
to report results on Thursday, fell between 0.9% and 1.6%.