Market against new COVID

US stocks are set for a bout of volatility, with equity futures pointing to a lower opening ahead of testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and growing concerns over the omicron option.

Dow Jones Industrial futures are down more than 400 points or 1%, while S&P 500 futures are down 0.5% and Nasdaq Composite futures are down almost 1%.

In addition, Regeneron shares have fallen after the disclosure of its COVID cocktail may be less effective against this variant.

Walgreens Boots Alliance has agreed to buy the remaining 30% stake in McKesson Corporation's German healthcare unit GEHE Pharma Handel (GEHE) and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland (AHD).

Adobe's latest Cyber Monday stats were updated on Tuesday and buyers spent $10.7bn, down 1.4% from a year ago.

At 9am ET, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller will release the latest house price data. Economists polled by Refinitiv expect the seasonally adjusted index to rise by 1.2% from August. Annual house prices, as measured by the index for 20 cities, are expected to fall in the second month to 19.3% from 19.7% in August and a record 20% in July.

At 9:45, the Institute of Supply Management releases the Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index for November. The closely watched Midwest business activity indicator is expected to fall slightly to 67.0 after an unexpected rise to 68.4 in October as supply shortages continue to hold back growth.

At 10:00 a.m. ET, the Conference Board will release its consumer confidence index for November. It is expected to fall slightly to 110.9 after an unexpected rise to 113.8 in October. Confidence has fallen sharply from a post-pandemic high of 128.9 in June due to concerns about inflation and the COVID option.

France's CAC 40 fell 1.4% in early trade to 6,684.44, while Germany's DAX lost 1.1% to 15,105.99. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.2% to 7,024.58 points.

Singapore was the top loser in Asia, falling 2.5%, while South Korea's Kospi lost 2.4% to 2,839.01. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.6% to 27,821.76 points amid pessimism over the Omicron option. Australia's S&P ASX 200 index rose 0.2% to 7,256.00. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.6% to 23,475.26, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed to 3,563.89.