Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday with the major indices near record highs and investors on edge amid a fresh escalation in the U.S. - China trade war and worries over U.S. President Donald Trump’s political standing.
Futures for the S&P 500 were little changed at 2,861.75 as of 06:50 AM ET (10:50 GMT) while Dow futures were up six points to 25,723.0. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 edged down to 7,431.75.
Stock markets remained subdued as another round of U.S. tariffs on $16 billion in Chinese goods went into effect on Thursday.
Beijing was quick to respond with promises to file a new complaint with the World Trade Organization and retaliatory tariffs for the same amount.
The tit-for-tat trade spat between the world’s two largest economies continues even as representatives from both countries are engaged in low level talks in the U.S.
Earlier this week, Trump played down the prospects of any imminent success from the discussions, saying that he didn’t “anticipate much” of an outcome.
Political turmoil in Washington also weighed following the criminal convictions this week of two of Trump’s former associates.
Investors were looking ahead to a meeting of global central bankers in Jackson Hole kicking off later Thursday after the Federal Reserve signaled no change to its pace of monetary policy tightening.
The minutes of the Fed’s latest meeting showed that policymakers expect the U.S. economy to expand at an above-trend pace, highlighting the case for further rate hikes.
The Fed minutes also showed that officials discussed how global trade disputes could affect businesses and households.
In earnings news, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Hormel (NYSE:HRL) are due to report ahead of the bell, while Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK), Gap (NYSE:GPS), HP (NYSE:HPQ), Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU), Splunk (NASDAQ:SPLK) and VMware (NYSE:VMW) are expected to report earnings later in the day.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.29% to 95.28, snapping six days of losses amid increased safe haven demand.
In the commodities markets, oil prices slid as worries over trade tensions hitting demand offset a report pointing to a decline in U.S. crude inventories. Gold prices were pressured lower by the stronger dollar.
On the economic calendar, a report on initial jobless claims is due at 08:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT) and flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data is due at 9:45 AM ET (13:45 GMT).