WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks are likely to come under pressure in early trading on Thursday, extending the downward move seen in the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 229 points.
Lingering trade concerns are likely to weigh on Wall Street amid further indications of rising tensions between the U.S. and China.
During a weekly briefly, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said the Trump administration must 'show sincerity and correct their wrong actions' if the U.S. wants trade talks to continue.
'Negotiations can only continue on the basis of equality and mutual respect,' Gao send, noting that China is closely monitoring developments and preparing a necessary response.
U.S. and China trade talks collapsed earlier this month as President Donald Trump followed through on a threat to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent.
The Trump administration also blocked U.S. companies from doing business with Chinese telecom giant Huawei but recently gave the company a 90-day reprieve.
With both sides seemingly unwilling to back down, traders are becoming increasingly wary of the impact of the trade dispute on the global economy.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended May 18th.
The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 211,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 212,000. Economists had expected initial jobless claims to inch up to 215,000.
Not long after the start of trading, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on new home sales in the month of April.
New home sales are expected to drop to an annual rate of 675,000 in April after jumping to a rate of 692,000 in March.
Following the notable upward move seen on Tuesday, stocks gave back some ground during the trading day on Wednesday. Selling pressure was relatively subdued, however, limiting the downside for the major averages.
The major averages ended the session off their worst levels of the day but still firmly in the red. The Dow slid 100.72 points or 0.4 percent to 25,776.61, the Nasdaq fell 34.88 points or 0.5 percent to 7,750.84 and the S&P 500 dipped 8.09 points or 0.3 percent to 2,856.27.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Thursday after closing mixed for several days. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dropped by 0.6 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 1.4 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has slumped by 1.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 1.7 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are tumbling $1.40 to $60.02 a barrel after plunging $1.72 to $61.42 a barrel a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $8.10 to $1,282.30 compared to the previous session's close of $1,274.20. On Wednesday, gold ticked up $1.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 110.03 yen compared to the 110.36 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1141 compared to yesterday's $1.1150.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX