Futures on financial markets point to another day of losses

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narvikk/iStock(NEW YORK) — Premarket trading for U.S. financial markets point to further losses Thursday after Wednesday’s steep sell-off.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicated an opening drop of approximately 500 points, or about 2.5%. Futures on the S&P 500 similarly pointed to a tumble of about 2.4%.

On Wednesday, the Dow closed down by more than 1,300 points, or 6.28%, as volatility amid the coronavirus pandemic continues. At one point Wednesday, trading on Wall Street was briefly halted after the S&P 500 fell below the 7% threshold. The S&P 500 closed 5.17% down.

Jeffrey Kleintop, the chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab, described the recent volatility as “a market that has nothing to hold onto to steady it.”

“The economic data won’t show anything positive for quite a while and markets can’t really give any credible outlook on earnings right now,” he told ABC News Wednesday.

The market is unlikely to bottom “until we see that peak in new virus cases, so we just don’t know when that will be,” he added.

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