Investing.com – U.S. futures were lower on Thursday as global trade tensions kept investors on edge.
The S&P 500 futures lost seven points or 0.25% to 2,765.0 as of 6:45 AM ET (10:45 GMT) while Dow futures decreased 85 points or 0.34% to 24,585.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 18 points or 0.25% to 7,294.75.
The European Union is expected to impose tariffs on about $3.4 billion of U.S. imports on Friday, including motorcycles, orange juice and cranberry sauce. The expected tariffs have added to tensions as investors fear an outright global trade war between the U.S., the EU and China.
Tensions between the U.S. and China have also continued, as the two largest economies in the world faced a tit-for-tat over trade tariffs. Earlier this week U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese goods.
Semiconductor Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) was among the top gainers in pre-market trading, surging 4.26% after its earnings results came in higher than expected. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) rose 2.60% after Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) upgraded its rating on the telecom giant while Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was up 0.90%.
Meanwhile, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) dipped down 0.10% while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 0.61% and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU) slipped 3.19%.
In economic news, initial jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for June are released at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT).
In Europe stocks were down. Germany’s DAX fell 120 points or 0.95% while in France the CAC 40 decreased 21 points or 0.40% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down one point or 0.01%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost 21 points or 0.62% while Spain’s IBEX 35 slumped 62 points or 0.64%.
In commodities, gold futures were down 0.76% to $1,264.80 a troy ounce while crude oil futures fell 1.43% to $64.77 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.41% to 95.17.