US STOCKS-Futures fall as virus fears eclipse upbeat retail sales

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* Twitter falls as accounts of top voices hacked on its
platform
* Bank of America slips as profit halves in Q2
* Futures down: Dow 0.60%, S&P 0.58%, Nasdaq 1.05%

(Adds comment; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
July 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open lower on
Thursday as concerns about the economic toll from another round
of shutdowns across the United States offset data showing a
higher-than-expected rise in domestic retail sales in June.
The Commerce Department's report showed retail sales jumped
7.5% last month compared with economists' forecast of 5%,
signalling the economy was continuing to limp out of a
coronavirus-driven slump as several states eased lockdowns from
May. But a recent surge in domestic COVID-19 cases has forced
states such as California to shut down again, sparking fears of
more business damage and slowing the pace of a Wall Street
rally.
"Much of the easy lifting in both the equity markets and in
the economy is mostly behind us," said Michael Hans, chief
investment officer at Clarfeld Citizens Private Wealth in
Greater New York Area.
"Especially as it relates to retail sales, the policy moving
forward is important. What goes on at the end of the month with
the pandemic unemployment assistance set to expire? How does
that impact the recovery and how does the consumer fare?"
Millions are set to lose their unemployment checks on July
31 when the government stops paying an additional $600 per week
to jobless self-employed people, gig workers and contractors who
do not qualify for regular state unemployment benefits.
Another report from the Labor Department on Thursday showed
weekly jobless claims fell to 1.30 million in the week ended
July 11 from 1.31 million the previous week, but remain roughly
double their highest point during the global financial crisis.
At 9:08 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 160 points,
or 0.6% S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 18.75 points, or 0.58%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 112.25 points, or
1.05%.
Bank of America Corp BAC.N fell 2.9% in premarket trading
after its second-quarter profit more than halved, even as it set
aside only about half as much in reserves as some of its peers
against a potential wave of defaults. Twitter Inc TWTR.N fell 4% as hackers accessed its
internal systems to hijack some of the platform's top voices
including U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality TV star
Kim Kardashian West, former U.S. President Barack Obama and
billionaire Elon Musk and used them to solicit digital currency.
American Airlines AAL.O dropped 3.6% as it sent 25,000
notices of potential furloughs to frontline workers and warned
that demand for air travel is slowing again.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O slipped 4.3% as its vehicle registrations
nearly halved in the U.S. state of California during the second
quarter, according to data from a marketing research firm.