Investing.com - U.S. futures slumped on Wednesday as news of possible Chinese retaliation in its trade dispute with the U.S. intensified fears of a global economic slowdown.
China’s state-run media said Beijing is considering limiting the export of rare earths, chemical elements that are used in a range of high-tech products. China is by far the largest supplier of those elements to global markets.
Dow futures fell 153 points or 0.6% by 6:44 AM ET (10:44 GMT), while tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures lost 59 points or 0.8% and S&P 500 futures was down 16 points or 0.6%.
Fears of a global slowdown over the last few days have intensified, and were further stoked overnight by the announcement that the world's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, would cut production further.
Demand for safe-haven assets has risen accordingly, with the yield on the U.S. 10-Year Treasury falling to its lowest level since September 2017. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Macro issues aside, retail stocks are expected to be in focus throughout Wednesday, with earnings results from Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) and Canada Goose (NYSE:GOOS).
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 1.1% in premarket trading after a French metal supplier filed a lawsuit over an alleged overdue payment, while Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) slipped 0.8% and social media company Snap (NYSE:SNAP) declined 4.8%.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) dipped 1.2% amid fears it will be a casualty of any further escalation in the trade war with China. Trade group IATA said it's unlikely the grounded 737 MAX will be cleared to fly again before late August, in line with expectations of at least some of the airlines that use the aircraft.
On the economic front, the Richmond Fed manufacturing survey for May is at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT), with the Dallas Fed services data following.
In commodities, crude oil slumped 1.9% to $57.98 a barrel, while gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,283.15 a troy ounce. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, edged up less than 0.1% to 97.882.