Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wednesday, after disappointing economic data from China underlined the risks to the global economy as the U.S.-China dispute escalates.
The blue-chip Dow futures shed 72 points, or 0.3% by 6:53 AM ET (10:53 GMT), S&P 500 futures fell 6.8 points, or 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were down 18 points, or 0.2%.
Wall Street finished solidly higher on Tuesday, after paring back early strong gains, as concerns over the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China briefly subsided.
U.S. President Donald Trump denied that talks between the two sides had broken down. "We have a dialogue going. It will always continue," said Trump, who has already announced plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit late next month.
Speculation that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates to offset any weakness in the economy took a knock on Tuesday after New York Fed head John Williams (NYSE:WMB) and Kansas City Fed President Esther George both pointed downplayed the suggestion, Williams in particular noting that the tariff increases levied by the U.S. would tend to increase inflation.
April retail sales numbers at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT) dominate the U.S. data calendar for today. They're expected to show a slight increase. Empire State manufacturing data for May are due out at the same time and will be followed by reports on industrial production and business inventories.
In premarket trade, Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) has surged 3.8% after reporting earnings ahead of consensus. It had fallen nearly 10% as the trade war heated up over the last two weeks. Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) is also indicated 4.6% higher after a strong quarterly update after the close on Tuesday.
Macy’s (NYSE:M) is also set to report ahead of the open and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) is among the names reporting after the bell.
Outside of equities, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, was little changed at 97.347 by 6:53 AM ET (10:53 GMT), while the yield on the 10-year Treasury was last trading at 2.40%, little changed from a day earlier.
In commodities, gold futures were up $2.45, or 0.2%, at $1,298.75 a troy ounce, while crude oil traded down 65 cents, or 1.05%, to $61.13 a barrel ahead of the weekly government report on inventories.