Wall Street set to open lower as focus shifts to tariff deadline

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(Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes were set to open modestly lower on Thursday, with investors staying on the sidelines ahead of the imposition of a fresh round of tariffs on Chinese goods.

FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., December 21, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

U.S. President Donald Trump has just days to decide whether to go ahead with tariffs on nearly $160 billion in Chinese consumer goods just weeks before Christmas, a move that could be unwelcome in both the United States and China.

“Because the administration is prone to putting out surprise statements on trade, investors are afraid to get too far in front on the likelihood of any bad news,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.

“There was news earlier in the week that the tariffs won’t go into effect but unless we see some material developments on that, we are likely to hold at this range.”

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) fell 1.1% in premarket trading after Credit Suisse said China iPhone shipments dropped in November.

Stock index futures edged higher initially, a day after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and signaled borrowing costs will not change anytime soon.

Wall Street’s main indexes have touched record highs recently, supported by three rate cuts this year, a calmer tone on trade and some relief in corporate earnings. The S&P 500 index .SPX is now up 25% so far this year.

Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits jumped to more than a two-year high last week, while another report showed U.S. producer prices were unexpectedly unchanged in November.

At 8:55 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 31 points, or 0.11%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 1 points, or 0.03% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 7 points, or 0.08%.

Investors across the globe braced for a Brexit-defining election in Britain, with exit polls set to begin at 5 p.m. ET (2200 GMT).

Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) rose 1.7% in after J.P.Morgan raised its rating on the coffee chain to “overweight”.

General Electric (GE.N) climbed 3.2% after UBS upgraded the industrial conglomerate’s shares to “buy”.

Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) rose 2% as the carrier sees another annual rise in profit and revenue in 2020.

Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva



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