Investing.com – U.S. futures were lower on Thursday as news that Chinese telecoms company Huawei is suing the U.S. government raised fears that a possible trade deal between the U.S. and China could be derailed.
The telecoms equipment maker claims a law limiting its U.S. business is unconstitutional and has filed a complaint in Texas.
It is the latest confrontation between Huawei and the U.S. government, which escalated again last Friday when Canada's government said it will start proceedings to extradite Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou to the U.S. to answer charges of violating sanctions against Iran.
The S&P 500 futures fell 5 points or 0.19% as of 6:40 AM ET (11:40 GMT) while Dow futures lost 73 points or 0.19% and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures was down 14 points or 0.21%.
Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) fell 0.7% in premarket trading, while semiconductor company Micron (NASDAQ:MU) slipped 1.13% and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) was down 6.7% after going ex-dividend.
Elsewhere, manufacturing company GrafTech jumped 13% amid news that it will withdraw a secondary stock offering due to market conditions.
In economic data news, weekly jobless claims figures come out at 8:30 AM ET (13:30 GMT). Investors are also waiting to find out if the European Central Bank will give the bloc fresh stimulus in the form of cheap loans. It's widely expected to slash its growth forecasts after a weak start to the year in Germany and Italy, in particular. The central bank decision is at 7:45 AM ET (12:45 GMT), while President Mario Draghi's press conference is scheduled for 8:30 AM ET (13:30 GMT).
In commodities, gold futures declined 0.06% to $1,286.85 a troy ounce, while crude oil was up 0.91% to $56.73 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.04% to 96.83.