Dow futures battle for altitude on Sunday night as COVID hospitalizations on Saturday mark new record

U.S. stock index futures traded mixed on Sunday night as investors braced for a shortened vacation week, with hospitalizations from COVID-19 on the rise. On Saturday, 83,227 people were hospitalized for the disease derived from the new strain of coronavirus, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Saturday’s record marks a string of hospitalization records since November 10. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMZ20,
+ 0.26%
YM00,
+ 0.26%
were off by 15 points, or less than 0.1%, at 29,197; those of the S&P 500 ES00 index,
+ 0.24%
ESZ20,
+ 0.24%
fell less than 0.1% to 3553, while Nasdaq-100 NQZ20 futures,
+ 0.38%
NQ00,
+ 0.38%
were up 0.2% to 11,927.50. Friday, the Dow DJIA,
-0.74%
recorded a loss of 0.7%, the S&P 500 SPX,
-0.67%
ended the week with a decline of 0.8%, while the Nasdaq COMP Composite Index,
-0.41%
ended the week 0.2% higher. The Russell 2000 RUT Small Cap Index,
+ 0.06%
gained 2.4% over the period, edging out large-cap rivals over the period. In the coming week, US markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, with volume likely to be low in the following session.