Investing.com - U.S. futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ended abruptly, while sentiment continued to suffer after downbeat comments on a potential trade deal with China from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
The double-blow came ahead of a delayed reading on the strength of the U.S. economy, in the form of fourth-quarter gross domestic product data at 8:30AM ET (13:30 GMT).
The blue-chip Dow futures lost 51 points, or 0.19%, to 24,957.5 points by 6:41 AM ET (11:41 GMT), the S&P 500 futures fell 7 points, or 0.25%, to 2,787.88 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 28 points, or 0.39%, to 7,094.0 points.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had walked away from talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un because of unacceptable demands to lift U.S. sanctions.
Trump insisted that good progress was made over denuclearization, but that the U.S. could not lift all of the sanctions at the current juncture.
“Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times,” Trump said, adding that “it was a friendly walk.”
Markets had already turned more cautious after comments from USTR Lighthizer on Wednesday.
Lighthizer told a Congressional hearing on Wednesday that it was too early to predict an outcome to negotiations between Washington and Beijing over trade, dampening hopes for a quick and comprehensive deal.
Thursday’s calendar also features data on weekly jobless claims as well as the Chicago PMI survey.
Among several appearances from Federal Reserve officials, investors will likely focus on remarks from the central bank's’ chief Jerome Powell and vice chairman Richard Clarida.
As the fourth-quarter earnings period comes to an end, a string of weak numbers and disappointing guidance looked set to hit shares on Thursday.
L Brands (NYSE:LB), Square (NYSE:SQ), Box (NYSE:BOX) and Fitbit (NYSE:FIT)saw sharp declines in premarket trade after issuing outlooks that missed analysts’ estimates.
A notable exception came with Anheuser Busch Inbev (NYSE:BUD) whose shares jumped 5.7% after the company forecast stronger growth in 2019.
Elsewhere, pessimism sent European stocks lower for a second day, with all continental bourses in the red.
Earlier, Asian shares closed lower, with South Korea's KOSPI taking the brunt, falling 1.8%.
Outside of equities, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, fell 0.31% to 95.74 by 6:44 AM ET (11:44 GMT), while the yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped 2.3 basis points to 2.67%.
In commodities, gold futures gained 0.51% at $1,327.95 a troy ounce, while crude oil traded down 0.33% to $56.75 a barrel.
-- Reuters contributed to this report.