US pre-open: Futures point to losses ahead of Trump's China press conference
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Friday 29 May 2020
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were pointing to losses ahead of the bell as market participants awaited a news conference on US-China relations from Donald Trump.
As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.33%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.21% and 0.18% lower, respectively.
The Dow closed 147.63 points lower on Thursday as a dire jobless claims report, weaker-than-expected gross domestic product numbers and Trump's announcement of a press conference all weighed on sentiment.
Friday's focus will be Trump's news conference on China at 1300 BST, the announcement for which came after Beijing approved a national security bill for Hong Kong that could potentially endanger the city's "one party, two systems" system which allows for additional freedoms that residents on mainland China don't have.
Futures also took a beating after Salesforce posted some disappointing second-quarter guidance.
Oanda's Craig Erlam said: "We're seeing a far more cautious tone at the end of the week as deteriorating relations between the US and China weigh on sentiment.
"This is turning into a nightmare election year for the President. Everything was going so well heading into the new year and now with only five months until the election, he's facing a global pandemic that's claimed more than 100,000 US lives, a severe recession, another fight with China and riots in Minneapolis following the killing of George Floyd by police officers. Not the backdrop he had in mind six months ago."
On the macro front, PCE price index data will be published at 1330 BST, as will personal income and spending figures, while the Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index and the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index will follow at 1445 BST and 1500 BST, respectively.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will deliver a speech at 1600 BST.
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