(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures dipped on Wednesday, suggesting that the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes would extend losses for a third straight day, as the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant stoked worries of slowing economic growth.
Shares of Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and Google-owner Alphabet Inc fell between 0.1% and 0.3% in premarket trading.
U.S. stocks have come under pressure in recent days as investors have turned increasingly cautious following Friday’s weak August payrolls data and uncertainty over tapering.
The U.S. Federal Reserve should move forward with a plan to trim its massive pandemic stimulus program despite a slowdown in job growth last month, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said in an interview with the Financial Times on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes closed lower on Tuesday, but the Nasdaq edged up to an all-time high after shares of Apple Inc and Netflix Inc hit record levels.
At 6:48 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 30 points, or 0.09%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 3 points, or 0.07%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 11.25 points, or 0.07%.
U.S. payments giant PayPal Holdings Inc rose 0.7% after it said it would acquire Japanese buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Paidy in a $2.7 billion largely cash deal.
Tesla Inc edged 0.6% higher after the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said the electric vehicle maker sold 44,264 China-made vehicles in August and reported a jump on local deliveries.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
