A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Drop As US-China Trade War Begins

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade, as the US government imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports and China‘s commerce ministry retaliated by imposing tariffs on the same value in US goods. Data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for June and the international trade report for May will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 73 points to 24,270.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 3.75 points to 2,734.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 12.50 points to 7,114.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.07 percent to trade at $76.56 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.86 percent to trade at $72.31 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET, while the Baker Hughes North American rig count report will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.05 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.01 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.10 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.18 percent, while French CAC 40 Index gained 0.08 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.12 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.47 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.49 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.23 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at B. Riley FBR downgraded Arbutus Biopharma Corporation ABUS from Buy to Neutral.

Arbutus Biopharma shares fell 3.85 percent to $8.75 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• PriceSmart, Inc. PSMT reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales exceeded estimates.
• EchoStar Corporation SATS disclosed that it has submitted revised offer for Inmarsat valued at £2.45 billion. However, Inmarsat board rejected the revised Echostar bid.
• Civeo Corp CVEO disclosed that it has been awarded four contracts for Coastal GasLink pipeline project in Canada.
• Biogen Inc. BIIB shares rose over 11 percent in pre-market trading after data from the company’s Phase II study of BAN2401 showed statistically significant slowing of clinical decline in early Alzheimer's patients.