S&P 500 Futures drop 0.50% amid Gamestop chatter, covid vaccines and China

• S&P 500 Futures refresh intraday low while defying the previous day’s corrective pullback.
• Brokers’ restrictions, US House Financial Services Committee hearing highlight Gamestop sage.
• Novavax conveyed upbeat results of phase 3 trials, China warns Vietnam of a war.

S&P 500 Futures declines to 3,755, down 0.65% intraday, during early Friday. The risk barometer recently extended its early Asian pullback after China warned Vietnam. Updates over the recent trading restrictions for retail as well as the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine news and developments concerning US President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus also direct the market mood off-late.

China’s warning to Taiwan is likely to reach the US if the matter escalates and hence traders are eyeing the fresh Sino-American tussle. “Taiwan, claimed by China as its territory, reported multiple Chinese fighter jets and bombers entering its southwestern air defense identification zone last weekend, prompting Washington to urge Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan,” said Reuters. On the contrary, the Financial Times (FT) said earlier in the week that the US Treasury is planning to delay the ban on American investments for Chinese firms with alleged military ties.

It should be noted that the latest update from Robinhood, the private trading platform gaining major attention in the Gamestop saga, suggests that the firm is in constant communication with the regulators, per Bloomberg. It was also revealed that the platform is experiencing issues while trading cryptocurrencies.

Read: Brokers’ restrictions on GME and AMC set a dangerous precedent – FXStreet Editorial

Elsewhere, Novavax conveyed an 89.3% efficacy rate for its covid vaccine during phase 3 trials. The update also unveiled the capacity to tame virus variants from the UK but not the one from South Africa.

On a different platform, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s favor for weak US Dollar and the current COVID-19 woes might end up recalling the currency war, signaled by Bloomberg. The analytics also exert downside pressure on the risks following the latest communication of economic pessimism by the US Federal Reserve and Q4 GDP.

Not only S&P 500 Futures but the US 10-year Treasury yields and stocks in Asia-Pacific also suggest mild risk-off amid a quiet session.