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Stock index futures fell as trade tensions between the U.S. and China continue to dominate investor sentiment.
At 9:15 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a drop of 192 points at the open. Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 also fell.
Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said Thursday, according to state-run news agency Xinhua, that the U.S. is exhibiting "bullying behavior" with its latest moves on the trade front, noting it is "regrettable that the U.S. side unilaterally escalated trade disputes, which resulted in severe negotiating setbacks."
The U.S. hiked tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods last week while China retaliated Monday with higher levies on $60 billion worth of U.S. products. The moves led to a massive sell-off to start off the week. But the major indexes have clawed back most of their losses through Thursday's close.
President Donald Trump 's administration then moved to make it harder for U.S. companies to do business with Huawei, a giant telecommunications company in China. Shares of U.S. suppliers like Qualcomm, Qorvo and Micron Technology fell 1.9%, 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively.
Chinese stocks fell sharply overnight. The Shanghai Composite dropped 2.5% and posted its longest weekly losing streak since July 2018.
Investors also fretted over a breakdown in Brexit talks. The U.K.'s two largest political parties failed to strike a deal on the country's exit from the European Union after six weeks of talks. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party leader, told Prime Minister Theresa May that talks had " gone as far as they can go ." Sterling fell 0.4% to $1.2751.
Stocks posted solid gains on Thursday, largely driven by strong earnings from Walmart WMT and Cisco Systems CSCO , as the major indexes notched their third consecutive gain.
On the data front Friday, consumer sentiment numbers are due at 10 a.m. ET.
A number of Fed speeches are also scheduled for Friday. At 10 a.m. ET, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida will be speaking on the Fed's review of its monetary policy strategy, followed by New York Fed President John Williams' speech in New York at 11:15 a.m. ET, and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan's speech at 1:10 p.m. ET.
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