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* Futures mixed: Dow flat, S&P down 0.11%, Nasdaq up 0.28%
By Medha Singh
March 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were mixed on
Tuesday, as G7 heads indicated willingness to take steps to
mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic, but
stopped short of announcing concrete measures.
Wall Street's main indexes had soared in the final minutes
of trading on Monday after their worst week since 2008 as
central banks in Japan and the European Union joined the Federal
Reserve in signaling further interest rate cuts.
But a statement https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm927#.Xl5OpmGbM1F.twitter
from a meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank
governors on Tuesday only said they stood "ready to take
actions, including fiscal measures where appropriate".
"I don't think there is a whole lot they can do. You may see
some rate cuts in the U.S. but rates are already pretty low in
the rest of the world," said Scott Brown, chief economist at
Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.
As of Monday, traders had fully priced in a 50 basis point
reduction in borrowing costs from the Fed this month, according
to CME Group's FedWatch tool, compared with zero just a week
ago, as the virus spreads faster outside China. The epidemic, which has crippled tourism, disrupted global
supply chains and raised alarms of a recession, has now killed
more than 3,000 people and spread to more than 60
countries. At 7:54 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up just 11
points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 3.5 points,
or 0.11% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 24.5 points, or
0.28%.
Focus will also be on U.S. politics as 14 states hold
primaries on Super Tuesday to choose the Democratic candidate to
challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3
election.
Healthcare equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO.N ,
rose 4.1% premarket after it launched a $11.6 billion bid for
German genetic testing company Qiagen QIA.DE . Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O rose 2.3% after
Piper Sandler raised the stock to "overweight" on expectations
the company would continue to gain market share from peer Intel
INTC.O over the next several years.
Electric-car maker Tesla TSLA.O was up 6.7% after
brokerage JMP Securities upgraded the stock to "market perform".