U.S. futures lower, data in focus; Dow Jones down 0.42%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday, as markets awaited the release of U.S. employment data later in the day amid growing uncertainty over the future of the Federal Reserve's stimulus program.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.42% drop, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.53% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.42% loss.

Markets were focusing on the U.S. private sector jobs report by payroll processor ADP later Wednesday for clues on Friday’s key nonfarm payrolls data.

Data on Monday showing that activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted for the first time in six months in May dampened expectations that the Fed will scale back its asset purchase program later this year.

Financial stocks were expected to be active, following reports JP Morgan agreed to forgive USD842 million of debt owed to it by Jefferson County, Alabama, where it took the lead in arranging risky securities deals that pushed the county into the largest U.S. municipal bankruptcy.

Shares in the U.S. lender were down 0.28% in pre-market trade.

Separately, Goldman Sachs accepted to lend USD500 million to Alibaba Group Holding as the company seeks USD8 billion of loans.

Insurance companies were also likely to be in focus, as American International Group Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche raised doubt about whether the company will complete a sale of its plane-leasing unit to a Chinese investor group by a deadline this month.

Elsewhere, Salesforce.com shares surged 2.45% in early trading after saying it will pay USD2.5 billion for marketing software maker ExactTarget.

Other stocks in focus included Brown-Forman and Hovnanian, due to report first quarter earnings before the start of U.S. trade.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.55%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.61%, Germany's DAX slid 0.42%, while Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled 0.96%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index retreated 0.97%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dove 3.83%.