Investing.com - U.S. futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday as investors refocused on political turmoil and trade concerns and investors took profit following a record 1,000-point rally in the Dow.
The blue-chip Dow futures fell 344 points, or 1.50%, to 22,528.0 points by 6:59 AM ET (6:59 GMT), while S&P 500 futures lost 36 points, or 1.46%, to 2,432.00 points. Meanwhile the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 96 points, or 1.53%, to 6,181.62 points.
Volatility was in full force in a topsy-turvy week for U.S. stocks that began with their worst Christmas Eve ever only to stage record gains on Wednesday that included the biggest rally in the S&P 500 since 2009 and the largest point increase in the history of the Dow.
Background sentiment has seen little change as a deadlock on Capitol Hill was in focus and concerns over the trade dispute between the U.S. and China were unresolved.
"I think worries regarding the U.S. government shutdown as well as lack of clarity over whether the U.S.-Sino negotiations (over trade) will go well or not still remain," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
The partial government shutdown entered its third day with little hope of an imminent resolution as U.S. President Donald Trump grappled with Congress over $5 billion in funding for the southern border wall.
Trump reiterated the need for border security while visiting troops Wednesday at the Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. “The American public is demanding a wall,” he insisted.
Weak data out of China, showing the first drop in industrial profits since December 2015, reminded investors that trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies remain.
Although China and the U.S. have made plans for face-to-face consultations over trade in January, a clear solution to the trade conflict is elusive.
For Thursday’s session, although the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau will not publish economic data during the ongoing partial government shutdown, the Labor Department is still expected to publish weekly jobless claims at 8:30 AM ET (13:30 GMT).
With the U.S. labor market showing strength, attention will likely focus on the Conference Board’s consumer confidence for December, due at 10:00 AM ET (15:00 GMT). Consensus is looking for the index to dip to 133.7 from the prior 135.7 in what would be its weakest reading in four months.
Ahead of the data, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, was down 0.27% to 96.32 by 7:09 AM ET (12:09 GMT).
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.32% to $1,273.85 a troy ounce, while crude oil slumped 2.49% to $45.45 a barrel.
-- Reuters contributed to this report.