US pre-open: Futures point to losses amid US-China tensions

Wall Street futures were in the red prior to the open on Tuesday amid heightened tensions between the US and China ahead of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's expected visit to Taiwan.

As of 1245 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.49%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.55% and 0.69% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 46.73 points lower on Monday as manufacturing data and comments from the Fed's Neel Kashkari remained in focus throughout the session.

Tuesday's primary focus was news that Pelosi will apparently visit Taiwan, spending the night in the country, according to Reuters. Chinese officials have since threatened to take action if she goes ahead with the visit, which would be the first such visit by a House Speaker since Newt Gingrich touched down in 1997.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned the United States that China was "standing by" and the Chinese People's Liberation Army will "never sit idly by" and China would take "resolute responses and strong countermeasures" to defend its sovereignty and "territorial integrity".

CMC Markets' Michael Hewson said: "After a strong finish to July, European and US markets got off to a cautious start to the month of August, with early gains giving way to weakness as China, US tensions ramped up on reports that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is due to visit Taiwan later this evening.

"These reports prompted some dark threats from China that the PLA would not stand idly if she attempted to visit what is considered by China their sovereign territory without permission. These tensions have spilled over into today's Asia session, as we look ahead to a lower European open."

In the corporate space, Molson Coors will report earnings before the start of trading, while Electronic Arts, Advanced Micro Devices, Airbnb, Gilead Sciences, and PayPal will publish their latest set of quarterly results after the close.

On the macro front, June's JOLTs job numbers will be published at 1500 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com