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Investing.com – U.S. stocks are set to open lower Friday, with investors wary over rising tensions between the U.S. and China, deadlock over the next virus relief bill and possible disappointments from the key monthly employment report.
At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), US 500 Futures traded 11 points, or 0.4%, lower, Nasdaq 100 Futures down 43 points, or 0.4%. The Dow Futures contract fell 105 points, or 0.4%.
Late Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced bans on U.S. residents’ transactions with China’s ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and on messenger app WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings (OTC:TCEHY).
The bans would start 45 days from now, and are explained as being valid because the companies offer “significant threats” to U.S. national security.
China responded Friday that the companies comply with U.S. laws and regulations and warned that the United States would have to “bear the consequences” of its action.
Tension has been simmering between the two powers for months, with the U.S. upset primarily over China’s handling of the novel coronavirus outbreak and moves to curb freedoms in Hong Kong.
Additionally, U.S. lawmakers have once more failed to make any real substantial progress on a new coronavirus aid bill, raising the possibility that President Trump will use executive powers to provide some limited aid.
“If we conclude tomorrow that there’s not a compromise position on the major issues, the president has alternatives in executive orders,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday.
The official employment report will also be in focus Friday, at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), with July’s payrolls expected to come in at 1.60 million – that’s around one-third of the previous month’s 4.80 million. This would suggest that the resurgence in coronavirus infections is undermining the economic recovery.
Earnings season continues, with the likes of DISH Network, Fluor and Icahn Enterprises due to release numbers Friday.
Oil prices traded lower Friday, amid concerns about demand destruction and not helped by Saudi Aramco (SE:2222) cutting the price of its flagship Arab Light crude by 30 cents a barrel.
That said, the two benchmark crude contracts are both set for weekly gains of at least 4%, the most since the week ending July 3.
U.S. crude futures traded 1.1% lower at $41.51 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent fell 0.8% to $44.74.
Elsewhere, gold futures traded flat at $2,058.40/oz, near record levels. Gold has rallied more than 33% in 2020, putting it on track for the biggest annual gain in over four decades.
