Stock market news live updates: Stock futures open little changed after Thursday rally - Yahoo Money

Stock futures kicked off the overnight session little changed Thursday evening as market participants considered mounting signals of labor market devastation amid the still-escalating coronavirus pandemic.

In the last two full weeks of March alone, an astonishing nearly 10 million American filed for initial unemployment insurance, underscoring the mounting strain the outbreak has unleashed on the U.S. economy. With this record-breaking data in hand, the Congressional Budget Office said in a new report Thursday it expected the unemployment rate to top 10% in the second quarter, rising above levels from the peak of the global financial crisis.

The Department of Labor’s official March jobs report set for release Friday is expected to reflect just modest impacts from the coronavirus since the survey period ended the week of the 12th. But with the pandemic continuing unabated and social distancing measures set to remain in place longer than initially anticipated, economists are bracing for data to deteriorate much more sharply in prints to come.

Companies from small and local businesses to some of the largest corporations in the country have announced major layoffs and furloughs to cut costs as consumers stay indoors during the outbreak. Boeing on Thursday announced a voluntary employee buyout program, and General Electric’s Aviation unit was reportedly furloughing 50% of its engine manufacturing workers.

Other companies highlighted shifting consumer trends as social distancing measures blanket the country. Walgreens Boots Alliance, the worst performer in the Dow during Thursday’s session, said it saw a sales jump and then swiftly reverse to a mid-teens percentage decline in the last week of March as foot traffic evaporated.

As of Thursday afternoon, the coronavirus had infected one million people globally, crossing that level for the first time since the first case of the virus was reported just four months ago in China. The death toll rose above 50,000 globally.

In the U.S., cases topped 236,000, according to Johns Hopkins data.

The energy sector remains another focal point tied to the coronavirus pandemic, with crude oil futures halving in value since the beginning of March. But on Thursday, the commodity posted a solid rebound: U.S. West Texas intermediate crude oil futures posted their largest one-day percent advance in history at more than 24%, after President Donald Trump suggested Saudi Arabia and Russia would pare back production by millions of barrels of oil per day and deescalate a price war begun early last month.

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6:00 p.m. ET: Stock futures open flat

Here were the main moves during the overnight session for equity futures, as of 6:00 p.m. ET:

• S&P 500 futures (ES=F): down 0.05%, or -1.25 points to 2,515.25

• Dow futures (YM=F): down 0.01% or -2 points to 21,271.00

• Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): down 0.1% or -7.25 points to 7,620.00

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Stock market news live updates: Stock futures open little changed after Thursday rally - Yahoo Money
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