S&P 500 Index opens slightly lower, eyes on next coronavirus relief bill

• Wall Street's main indexes are trading in the red on Thursday.
• Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says there won't be a payroll tax cut in next coronavirus bill.
• Technology and energy shares underperform in early trade. 

Major equity indexes in the US started the day in the negative territory on Thursday as investors seem to be opting out to staying on the sidelines while waiting for headlines on the next coronavirus relief bill. 

As of writing, the S&P 500 Index was down 0.1% on the day at 3,272, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was falling 0.28% at 26,924 and the Nasdaq Composite was losing 0.22% at 10.846.

During an interview with CNBC on Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that Republicans were working on a new formula for expanded unemployment benefits but noted that there won't be a payroll tax cut in next COVID bill.

Meanwhile, the weekly data published by the Department of Labor revealed that there were 1.41 Initial Jobless Claims in the week ending July 18th, an increase of 109,000.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the risk-sensitive Energy and Technology indexes are down around 0.5% on the day. On the other hand, the defensive sectors, Utilities, Consumer Staples and Real Estate, are trading in the positive territory.

S&P 500 chart (daily)