Investing.com – U.S. futures pointed to a lower opening bell on Wednesday amid fresh trade war concerns.
The S&P 500 futures was down 17 points or 0.64% to 2,736.50 as of 6:45 AM ET (10:45 GMT) while Dow futures decreased 188 points or 0.76% to 24,657.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 67 points or 0.98% to 6,841.50.
Sentiment on Wall Street was dampened on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not pleased with how the U.S.-China trade talks were going. He also said there were doubts about whether or not a U.S.-North Korea summit would take place on June 12. The U.S. is concerned that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will not give up his nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile investors are looking ahead to the latest meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve. The minutes are set to be released at 2:00 PM ET (18:30 GMT). Investors will be looking closely for any sign of tightening monetary policy.
A recent increase in bond yields, along with positive economic data and rising inflation, has boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates and tighten monetary policy.
Technology stocks were among the hardest hit in pre-market trading. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 1.05% while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) decreased 0.96%.
Retail firm Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) was down 0.41% after its earnings results came in lower than expected, while Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) dipped 1.24%.
Elsewhere beauty firm Avon Products Inc (NYSE:AVP) was up 4.23%.
In earnings news, retailer Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) is expected to release its earnings before the market opens, among others.
In Europe stocks were down after disappointing euro zone data. Germany’s DAX fell 197 points or 1.50% while in France the CAC 40 decreased 61 points or 1.10% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 57 points or 0.73%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost 52 points or 1.45% while Spain’s IBEX 35 slumped 141 points or 1.40%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.33% to $1,296.20 a troy ounce while crude oil futures decreased 0.54% to $71.81 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.26% to 93.75.