Investing.com – U.S. futures pointed to a lower opening bell on Wednesday as investors remain wary of increasing trade war tensions.
The S&P 500 futures fell 1 and a half points or 0.04% to 2,910.50 as of 6:50 AM ET (10:50 GMT) while Dow futures gained 17 points, or 0.06%, to 26,318.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures increased half a point, or 0.01%, to 7,525.25.
On Tuesday China said it would impose new tariffs on U.S. goods worth $60 billion, effective September 24. Officials also filed a complaint against the U.S. with the World Trade Organization, as expected.
The announcement was in response to U.S. tariffs imposed Monday of 10% on $200 billion in Chinese goods, which will go up to 25% at the end of the year. U.S. President Donald Trump previously stated that the U.S. would impose tariffs on another $267 billion of additional imports if China retaliates.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) inched down 0.18% in premarket trading, after news that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Chief Executive Elon Musk’s tweets in August that he had “funding secured” to take the company private.
Meanwhile, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) fell 1.82% while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) dipped 0.47%.
Elsewhere Jd.Com Inc Adr (NASDAQ:JD) rose 1.63% while Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) gained 0.84% and medical marijuana firm Tilray Inc (NASDAQ:TLRY) surged 18.05%.
In economic news, housing starts and building permits data come out at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT).
In Europe stocks were mostly up. Germany’s DAX rose 32 points or 0.27% while in France the CAC 40 was up 15 points or 0.29% and in London the FTSE 100 increased 1 point or 0.01%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 2 points or 0.08% while Spain’s IBEX 35 fell 3 points or 0.03%.
In commodities, gold futures were up 0.45% to $1,208.30 a troy ounce while crude oil futures were flat at $69.59 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.20% to 94.03.