Investing.com – U.S. futures slumped on Tuesday, amid news that China is seeking World Trade Organization permission to impose trade sanctions on Washington.
The S&P 500 futures fell 6 points or 0.21% to 2,874.25 as of 6:50 AM ET (10:50 GMT) while Dow futures lost 93 points, or 0.36%, to 25,812.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures decreased 15 points, or 0.21%, to 7,444.50.
China is planning to ask the WTO for permission to impose sanctions on the U.S., according to a WTO meeting agenda posted on Tuesday. Beijing will formally place the request next week, as an apparent response to remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump, who wants to impose tariffs on nearly all imported Chinese goods.
Meanwhile, trade talks with the European Union continued, as Robert E. Lighthizer, the United States trade representative, called a meeting with EU officials “constructive.” However a deal between the two nations is not likely to be reached as soon as the White House administration would like.
Medical marijuana firm Tilray Inc (NASDAQ:TLRY) was among the top gainers in premarket trading, rising 3.81% while Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) increased 1.44%.
Elsewhere Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) fell 0.30% while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) slumped 2.18% and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) dipped 1.16%.
In Europe stocks were down. Germany’s DAX fell 58 points or 0.49% while in France the CAC 40 was down 7 points or 0.14% and in London the FTSE 100 decreased 39 points or 0.55%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost 14 points or 0.44% while Spain’s IBEX 35 inched down 27 points or 0.29%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.09% to $1,198.70 a troy ounce while crude oil futures rose 0.27% to $67.72 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, increased 0.09% to 95.21.