U.S. stock futures lost ground Monday, with investors staying concerned about trade fights as the year’s second half starts, after President Donald Trump talked tough again on trade with the European Union.
What are the main benchmarks doing?
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YMU8, -0.50% lost 167 points, or 0.7%, to 24,098, while S&P 500 futures ESU8, -0.60% shed 16.35 points, or 0.6%, to 2,705.25. Nasdaq-100 futures NQU8, -0.74% fell by 52.50 points, or 0.7%, to 7,014.25.
On Friday, the Dow DJIA, +0.23% , S&P 500 SPX, +0.08% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.09% all closed slightly higher, but logged losses for the week.
The Dow is down 1.8% for the year as of Friday’s close, while the S&P and Nasdaq have gained 1.7% and 8.8%, respectively.
What’s driving markets?
Investors are remaining concerned about trade disputes that could hamper global economic growth, as the weekend brought no letup in headlines about tariffs.
Trump on Sunday said he sees his threat to impose global auto tariffs as his biggest weapon to extract concessions from trading partners. At the same time, he called the EU “as bad as China” in hindering U.S. trade.
Meanwhile, a Financial Times report on Sunday said the European Union has threatened $300 billion in fresh tariffs against U.S. products if Trump follows through on his threatened 20% levies targeting the trade bloc’s auto makers. And Canadian retaliatory tariffs took effect Sunday, with those measures serving as a response to U.S. metals tariffs.
What are strategists saying?
“A ramping up of trade-war headlines over the weekend, such as a strong warning of retaliation from the EU … will ensure that the fear of an all-out global trade war is central in traders’ minds, as the session begins on Monday,” said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group, in a note.
What are other markets doing?
European stocks SXXP, -0.88% were retreating, after Asian markets finished mostly lower.
Oil futures CLQ8, -0.09% fell after a weekend tweet from Trump hinted at a big potential production increase from Saudi Arabia. Gold futures GCQ8, -0.34% also were down, as the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.23% gained.
Which stocks are in focus?
Auto-industry players such as General Motors Co. GM, -2.76% and Ford Motor Co. F, -1.86% are likely to make moves given the trade-related concerns. GM on Friday warned the Trump administration that tariffs on vehicle imports would hurt its competitiveness, cost U.S. jobs and result in “a smaller GM.”
Other major auto makers joined GM in comments to the U.S. Department of Commerce, including Toyota Motor Corp. TM, -0.22% 7203, -1.42% , which warned Friday that auto tariffs “would have a negative impact on all manufacturers.”
Which economic reports are on tap?
A couple of June reports on manufacturing are due to arrive after the opening bell, with one from Markit slated for 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time and ISM’s scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern. Economists polled by MarketWatch see a reading of 58.3% for ISM’s manufacturing index.
Also at 10 a.m. Eastern, a May release on construction spending is expected, with economists forecasting no growth after a 1.8% rise in the prior month.
No Federal Reserve officials are slated to give speeches on Monday.