CORRECTED-US STOCKS-Futures slip on rising virus cases; eyes on stimulus

(Corrects paragraph 7 to remove reference to Amazon.com
reporting quarterly results this week)
* Futures down: Dow 0.23%, S&P 0.28%, Nasdaq flat

By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
July 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged lower on
Monday as concerns about a jump in COVID-19 cases kept risk
appetite in check, with investors also looking for signs of more
stimulus to shore up a battered global economy.
After the U.S. government's $3 trillion commitment to the
crisis 12 weeks ago, record levels of new infections have forced
many states to backpedal their reopening plans just as those
support programs are due to expire.
Furthermore, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention has warned that cases and deaths could rise this
autumn and winter. The Congress is set to debate a new aid package this week.
Signs of progress on a potential coronavirus vaccine,
improving economic data and a relatively upbeat start to the
second-quarter earnings season helped the S&P 500 and the Dow
rise for three consecutive weeks.
The benchmark S&P 500 is now less than 5% down from its Feb.
19 record close.
This week, major companies including Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O , Tesla Inc TSLA.O , Intel Corp INTC.O and Honeywell
International Inc HON.N are expected to report quarterly
results.
After leading the U.S. stocks' rally since late March, the
tech-heavy Nasdaq eased slightly last week as investors turned
toward cyclical sectors on prospects of a faster-than expected
recovery.
At 6:30 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 60 points,
or 0.23%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 9 points, or 0.28%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 3 points, or 0.03%.
Noble Energy Inc's NBL.O shares jumped 10.5% premarket as
Chevron Corp CVX.N agreed to buy the Houston-based oil and gas
producer for $5 billion in an all-stock deal. Chevron rose 0.2%.
L3N2ER2FR
Pfizer Inc PFE.N rose 2.8%, after Britain signed deals to
secure 90 million doses of two possible COVID-19 vaccines from
an alliance of the U.S. drugmaker, Germany-based BioNTech
22UAy.F and French group Valneva VLS.PA .