Stock futures open higher as S&P 500 tries to build on last week’s gains and hit record high



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Traders work during the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 17, 2020 on Wall Street in New York.

Johannes Eisele | AFP | Getty Images

U.S. equity futures rose on Sunday night after Wall Street posted its third consecutive weekly gain, but failed to break through the all-time high on February 19.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 48 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures contracts also traded up 0.2% each.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% last week and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.1%. The Dow Jones gained 1.8% last week.

Despite those gains, the S&P 500 failed to hit a new all-time high after flirting with the milestone for most of last week. Until Friday’s close, the S&P 500 was just 0.6% below 3,393.52, the intraday high set in February.

“The S&P 500 is overbought in key resistance and against seasonal headwinds,” Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer, said in a note to clients. But if the market “consolidates from here, we will watch for a build-up of cyclical stocks to confirm what we expect to be a breakout to a new high.”

Wall Street has also been grappling with lingering concerns over the stalling of negotiations over the coronavirus stimulus and the resurgence of US-China tensions.

Democrats and Republicans have indicated they are at a stalemate over a new stimulus package. Democrats have offered to send more than $ 900 billion to states and municipalities in a single bill. A GOP counter-offer did not include any additional help for states and local governments.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Friday: “I am ready to send more money to states and local governments to save jobs for police, firefighters, first responders and teachers. DEMOCRATS ARE NOWING THIS!”

On the US-China front, Trump issued an executive order on Friday requiring ByteDance to sell or divest its US TikTok business in 90 days. Trump cited “credible evidence” that ByteDance “may take action that threatens to undermine the national security of the United States.”

Trump’s order came as relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate. The United States has criticized China for its initial handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

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