Stocks set to open lower on U.S.-China trade jitters
U.S. futures pointed to a negative open on Friday, as investors digested a new report on the trade standoff between the Washington and Beijing.
According to a fresh report by Bloomberg, the White House is holding off on allowing U.S. firms to resume business with Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies after officials in Beijing said they were suspending purchases of American agricultural products. The move comes just days after U.S. Treasury Department formally labeled China a currency manipulator.
At around 05:20 a.m. ET, the Dow futures contract declined 78 points, or 0.3% to 26,287, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Futures contract was down 44 points, or 0.57% to 7,691.75, while the S&P 500 futures contract dropped 11.12 points or 0.38% to 2,928.88.
Market movers – Uber, Farfetch
Shares in ride-sharing giant Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) were down 6% premarket after the company posted second-quarter losses that were bigger than analysts expected on Thursday.
Farfetch (NYSE: FTCH) was plunging 38% premarket after the company announced that its chief operating officer Andrew Robb is resigning. The online luxury retailer also lowered its gross merchandise value growth estimates to the range of 37% to 40% from its earlier guidance of 41%.
Farfetch further disclosed that it is acquiring Milan-based New Guards Group for $675 million in a cash and stock deal.
Brexit uncertainty weighs on UK GDP growth
The UK economy shrank by 0.2% in the second quarter, its first worst performance since the fourth quarter of 2012. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the construction sector weakened and manufacturing output dropped between April and June amid Brexit uncertainty.
Analysts had expected the economy to stagnate during the quarter, but were not forecasting a contraction. The dollar and the euro were slightly stronger against the sterling after the ONS released the GDP data on Friday morning.
