US STOCKS-S&P, Dow futures slip as stimulus hopes fade

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* Futures: Dow down 0.23%, S&P off 0.14%, Nasdaq up 0.12%

By Shivani Kumaresan
Nov 20 (Reuters) - Futures tracking the S&P 500 and the Dow
dipped on Friday as fears over rising coronavirus infections and
fading stimulus threatened to further hamper a slowing economic
revival from a pandemic-induced downturn.
Nasdaq futures rose 0.1% as investors returned to technology
stocks that have shown resilience during the pandemic. Netflix
Inc NFLX.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O edged higher premarket.
In a surprise move on Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin said key COVID-19 pandemic lending programs at
the Federal Reserve to support businesses and local governments
would expire by the end of the year. The decision to end the program, which was deemed essential
by the central bank, comes as data showed a rise in jobless
claims last week as new business restrictions to control
spiraling coronavirus infections unleashed a fresh wave of
layoffs. California and Ohio imposed nightly curfews on Thursday,
joining 20 U.S. states to have adopted new mandates to fight the
spread of the virus this month. The S&P 500 and the Dow are little changed over this week
following two strong weeks of gains, as investors juggled
between growing optimism over an effective coronavirus vaccine
and near-term economic damage from the surging virus cases.
At 6:27 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 67 points,
or 0.23%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 5 points, or 0.14%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 14.25 points, or 0.12%.
Pfizer Inc PFE.N rose 1.8% premarket as the company said
it has applied to U.S. health regulators for emergency use
authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine. Apparel and home fashion retailer Ross Stores Inc ROST.O
gained 3.4% after its quarterly sales topped expectations.