China warns Trump tariffs will escalate trade friction
U.S. stock index futures slipped on Thursday after China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said that new U.S. tariffs would “lead to an escalation of economic and trade friction.”
The U.S. government announced early this month that it would slap new tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese products from September 1. However, President Trump later delayed some of the tariffs to protect American consumers from higher prices during the holiday season.
Beijing is now urging Washington not go ahead with planned tariff hikes and instead “meet each other halfway” to resolve their disputes.
At 5:23 a.m. ET, the Dow futures contract declined 56 points, or 0.21% to 26,170.0, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Futures contract was down 29.50 points, or 0.38% to 7,720.75, while the S&P 500 futures contract fell 6.63 points or 0.233% to 2,922.62.
All eyes on Jackson Hole symposium
The meeting of world central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming will be the main focus of the financial markets, particularly on Friday when Fed chairman Jerome Powell gives his keynote speech from 10:00 a.m. ET. The symposium officially kicks off today and runs through Saturday.
Investor are hoping Powell will clarify whether the central bank is at the start of a serious rate-cutting cycle, or just planning to cut a few times to protect the U.S. economy from global economic slowdown.
The Fed released minutes of its July 30-31 interest-rate setting policy on meeting on Wednesday, which showed policymakers were sharply divided when they vote to trim rates by a quarter point.
More earnings on tap
Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) and Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL) are due to report quarterly results today before the market opens.
Cloud giant Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) and apparel retailer Gap (NYSE: GPS) are expected to release second quarter results after the close. Other companies expected to report after the closing bell include HP (NYSE: HPQ), Ross Stores (NASDAQ: ROST), and Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU).
