U.S. stock futures pointed to a sharply lower open on Wednesday as a trade spat between Washington and Beijing escalated, prompting traders to ditch assets perceived as more risky.
The S&P 500 futures were down 0.66% to 2,778.25 as of 6:51 AM ET (10:51 GMT) while Dow futures were down 0.78% to 24,732. The tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 futures shed 0.83% to 7,240.75.
The trade threat came back into focus after the Trump administration announced plans late Tuesday to impose tariffs of 10% on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
News of the additional tariffs pushed fears of a trade war back into the spotlight just days after the two countries slapped tariffs of $34 billion on each other.
The tit-for-tat tariffs have fueled worries over the prospect of an all-out trade war, which investors fear could hit global growth.
Shares of Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOX) were likely to be in focus after it raised its takeover offer for Britain’s Sky (LON:SKYB) to $32.5 billion, heating up a bidding war with Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA).
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) shares were also likely to be active after the drugmaker announced plans on Wednesday to reorganize its business into three units, with one to include a new hospital business segment.
Shares in Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) were down 0.82% ahead of the open following reports that it would be fined by Britain's information regulator for breaches of data protection law after the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
nVidia Corp.(NASDAQ:NVDA) shares fell 1.68% before the open after it announced late Tuesday a partnership with German car maker Daimler (D:DAIGn) and auto-parts maker Bosch to begin testing a self-driving taxi project.
In earnings news, MSC Industrial (NYSE:MSM), Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) and Bank of the Ozarks (NASDAQ:OZRK) were among some of the companies due to announce their results Wednesday.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.28% at 94.11.
In the commodities markets, oil prices were pressured lower amid concerns that U.S.-China trade tensions could hit energy demand.
On the economic calendar, producer price index data is due at 08:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT), followed by wholesale trade figures at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
