Investing.com - U.S. futures were lower on Friday after new data showed a steep drop in manufacturing activity in Europe, increasing worries over a global slowdown.
A preliminary index reading for manufacturing activity in the euro zone fell to its lowest level since 2013, adding to the concerns over growth that prompted the Federal Reserve to signal on Wednesday that it no longer expects to raise interest rate hikes this year.
Dow futures fell 114 points to 0.4% by 6:42 AM ET (10:42 GMT), while S&P 500 futures lost 11 points or 0.4% and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures was down 27 points or 0.4%.
Nike (NYSE:NKE) slumped 4.3% in premarket trading after the sportswear company’s North American sales fell short of expectations. Boeing (NYSE:BA) slipped 0.2% on news that Indonesian airline Garuda is cancelling its order of the 737 Max 8 jet after two deadly crashes involving the model, the first airline to take such a step.
Meanwhile semiconductor Micron (NASDAQ:MU) fell 0.7% after jumping over 9% at the close on Thursday, while Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) lost 0.5% and Carnival (NYSE:CCL) was down 1.1%.
Elsewhere, Pearson (NYSE:PSO) jumped 4.6% after JP Morgan updated the education company to overweight from neutral, while Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) gained 0.2% and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 0.7% on news that it is bringing back its customer referral program just months after saying it was ending it.
In commodities, gold futures were up 0.4% to $1,313.65 a troy ounce, while crude oil declined 0.9% to $59.42. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.1% to 95.093.