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(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures fell on Thursday as growing trade tensions with China added to worries about the pace of a recovery from a coronavirus-fueled economic slump even with several countries easing lockdowns.
Simmering tensions between the world’s two biggest economies over the origin of the novel coronavirus have slowed a Wall Street rally this month, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have still inched up to hit multi-month highs amid some optimism over economic recovery.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at Beijing, calling the $2 billion it has pledged to fight the pandemic as “paltry”.
Investors are also awaiting the latest weekly jobless claims data, which is due at 8:30 a.m. ET and is expected to show millions more Americans filing for unemployment benefits due to layoffs and mass furloughs as a result of the lockdown.
Still, claims have gradually declined since hitting a record 6.867 million in the week ended March 28 and Thursday’s report could offer early clues on how quickly businesses re-hire as they reopen.
At 06:25 a.m. EDT, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were down 152 points, or 0.62%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 19 points, or 0.64%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 55.75 points, or 0.59%.
SPDR S&P 500 ETFs (P:SPY) were down 0.56%.
The S&P 500 index (SPX) closed up 1.67% at 2,971.61 on Wednesday.
