Investing.com – U.S. Futures were lower on Wednesday as investor concern over increased regulation of the technology sector weighed on markets and trade war worry resurfaced.
The S&P 500 futures was down over one and a half points or 0.07% to 2,614.0 as of 6:43 AM ET (10:43 GMT) while Dow futures decreased three points or 0.01% to 23,856.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 27 and half points or 0.42% to 6,533.75.
All three indices closed in the negative on Tuesday, offsetting gains on Monday driven by hope that risk of a global-trade war had passed.
Increased scrutiny on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) over the misuse of user data lead to a slump in tech stocks. The Federal Trade Commission on Monday confirmed it is investigating how the social media giant handles user data. Facebook has faced criticism after a third-party app was used to target 50 million users without their knowledge and CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg agreed on Tuesday to testify before Congress over the data leak.
The firm fell 0.50% in pre-market trading.
Meanwhile General Mills (NYSE:GIS) slumped 1.39% after announcing a public offering of common stock while Twitter was down 0.57% and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) lost 0.43%. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) dipped 1.80% after the National Transportation Safety Board announced it’s investigating the fatal crash of a Tesla car in California last week.
Elsewhere pharmaceutical firm Shire plc (NASDAQ:SHPG) was up 21.88% after news that Japanese company Takeda is considering a takeover bid.
In other news, trade concerns have returned after the Chinese state run Global Times reported that Beijing would soon announce a full list of tariffs on U.S. imports to retaliate to planned U.S. levies.
In economic news, a third reading of the fourth quarter’s gross domestic product (GDP), goods trade balance and real consumer spending are expected at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT). Pending home sales are scheduled for 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
In Europe stocks were down. Germany’s DAX fell 113 points or 0.95% while in France the CAC 40 decreased 50 points or 0.98% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 20 points or 0.29%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost 26 points or 0.81% while Spain’s IBEX 35 slumped 63 points or 0.67%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.26% to $1,338.50 a troy ounce while crude oil futures was down 0.90% to $64.66 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, increased 0.22% to 89.16.