US stocks slip as coronavirus concerns remain elevated

nyse open floor traders mask.JPG — REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

US stocks pulled back from record closing-highs on Friday as investors remained concerned about the pandemic.
President Joe Biden warned the US could see 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the next month.
IBM shares tumbled after the computing giant's fourth-quarter earnings missed analyst expectations.
Watch major indexes update live here.

US stocks pulled back from record closing-highs Friday morning, with the Dow Jones shedding nearly 200 points as investors weighed still-concerning coronavirus trends and paused from stimulus-fueled optimism.

President Joe Biden warned that the US could see 100,000 deaths from coronavirus in the next month. The US reported its second-highest daily death toll on Thursday, but hospitalizations continued to edge downward and the number of newly reported cases rose only slightly.

"We are now seeing the strongest string of declines (7D delta) [in cases] that was not seen since Wave 2 ended over the Summer. So this is a big downturn," said Fundstrat's head of research Tom Lee. He said the question now will be whether this is a sustained downturn or whether mutant strains of the coronavirus will reverse progress.

"Perhaps most importantly, if case figures are improving this rapidly, and vaccinations are moving forward strongly, this could also be an 'economic surprise' if the US economy can open sooner," he added.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Friday:

S&P 500: 3,835.30, down 0.46%
Dow Jones industrial average: 30,993.04, down 0.59% (182.97 points)
Nasdaq composite:13,483.83, 0.39%

On the economic data front, IHS Markit publishes the US purchasing managers' index at 9:45 a.m.. Also, existing home sales are set to be released at 10 a.m. ET Friday. Economists are forecasting 6.55 million homes sold, lower than last months reading which came in at 6.69 million. The data release follows booming US housing starts, which climbed in December to the fastest pace since 2006, according to a Census Bureau report published Thursday.

Shares of Intel fell as much as 4% in pre-market trading Friday, after the company said its corporate website was hacked, pushing the chipmaker to release its fourth-quarter earnings earlier than planned.

Meanwhile, IBM tumbled by more than 7%after the computing giant's fourth-quarter earnings missed analyst expectations. IBM on Thursday reported a 6.5% year on year fall in revenues in the fourth-quarter to $20.37 billion, below the $20.67 billion analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected. It was the fourth consecutive quarter of falling sales.

Bitcoin was set for its biggest weekly fall in months, and hit a 24-hour low of $28,845 before paring some losses.

Gold dipped as much as 1.30%, to $1,841.70 per ounce. The dollar gained against a basked of Group-of-20 currencies and Treasury yields slipped.

Oil prices fell for the second day but remained above the $50 support level. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped as much as 2.52%, to $51.79 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international standard, declined 2.21%, to $54.86 per barrel.

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