Wall Street Set for Downbeat Session as Trade Tensions Escalate

US stocks were set for a downbeat open on Thursday amid fresh concerns on the trade dispute between the US and China following signals from the Trump administration that it is considering more than doubling its proposed tariffs on Chinese imports.

Oil prices nudged lower with global benchmark Brent crude down 0.37% and US crude West Texas Intermediate down 0.41% recently after official data released on Wednesday showed an unexpected build in US crude stockpiles while additional pressure also came from data which showed a sequential increase in Russian oil output for July.

Data released at 8:30 am showed showed new unemployment claims rose 1,000 to 218,000 as expected for the July 28 week, according to data compiled by Econoday.

At 10 am, factory orders are seen rising 0.9% for June vs prior gain of 0.4%.

In equities, ADRs of Teva Pharmaceuticals ( TEVA ) were 8.1% lower pre-bell after the drug maker reported better-than-expected Q2 adjusted earnings, while sales missed expectations.

U.S. PRE-MARKET INDICATORS

-Dow Jones Industrial down 0.63%

-S&P 500 futures down 0.63%

-Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.71%

-Nasdaq 100 pre-market indicator down 0.37%

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Nikkei down 1.03%

Hang Seng down 2.20%

Shanghai Composite down 2%

FTSE-100 down 0.92%

DAX-30 down 1.47%

PRE-MARKET SECTOR WATCH

(-) Large cap tech: lower

(-) Chip stocks: lower

(-) Software stocks: lower

(-) Hardware stocks: lower

(-) Internet stocks: lower

(-) Oil stocks: lower

(-) Biotech stocks: lower

(-) Drug stocks: unchanged to lower

(-) Financial stocks: lower

(+/-) Retail stocks: mixed

(+/-) Industrial stocks: mixed

(-) Airlines: unchanged to lower

(+/-) Autos: mixed

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) TSLA (+9.6%) Q2 sales jumped, EPS loss more than doubled

(+) RACE (+2.7%) Q2 adjusted EPS beats view, shy on revenue

(+) QTRH (+41.7%) Wins damages in infringement case against Apple

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) W (-8.6%) Reported wider-than-expected Q2 loss, but sales beat

(-) MZOR (-11.5%) Q2 adjusted loss narrows YoY, sales miss estimate

(-) EXAS (-21.7%) Reports narrower Q2 loss vs Street, misses on revenue

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.