WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the pullback seen late in the previous session, stocks are likely to see some further downside in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 179 points.
Ongoing concerns about the escalating U.S.-China trade dispute are likely to weigh on Wall Street after Google suspended some of its business with Chinese tech giant Huawei.
Google has cut Huawei off from business involving the transfer of hardware, software and technical services, complying with an order by President Donald Trump blocking the sale or transfer of U.S. technology to Huawei.
'We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications,' a Google spokesperson said, noting services such as Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices.
In addition to the move by Google, a report from Bloomberg said chipmakers Intel (INTC), Xilinx (XLNX), and Qualcomm (QCOM) told employees they will not supply Huawei until further notice.
The blow to Huawei has added to trade concerns sparked by last Friday's report from CNBC saying the scheduling of the next round of U.S.-China trade talks is 'in flux' because it is unclear what the two sides would discuss.
Two sources briefed on the status of trade talks told CNBC discussions regarding scheduling the next round of talks have not taken place since Trump signed an executive order ramping up scrutiny of Chinese telecom companies.
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data may keep some traders on the sidelines.
Reports on new and existing home sales and durable goods orders are likely to attract attention in the coming days along with the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.
Stocks showed wild swings over the course of the trading session on Friday before ending the day mostly lower. The major averages recovered from an initial move to the downside only to pull back sharply late in the session.
At the end of the day, the major averages were all firmly in negative territory. The Dow fell 98.68 points or 0.4 percent to 25,764.00, the Nasdaq slumped 81.76 points or 1 percent to 7,816.28 and the S&P 500 dropped 16.79 points or 0.6 percent to 2,859.53.
The major averages also closed lower for the week. The Nasdaq tumbled by 1.3 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 slid by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all shown notable moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K'.s FTSE 100 Index has slumped by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down by 1.6 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are inching up $0.04 to $62.80 a barrel after slipping $0.11 to $62.76 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after slumping $10.50 to $1,275.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging up $0.70 to $1,276.40 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 109.87 yen compared to the 110.08 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1164 compared to last Friday's $1.1158.
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