US pre-open: Futures point to more losses amidst concerns over global growth

Wall Street futures were pointing to losses at the opening bell on Wednesday as ongoing trade tensions fed into concerns around the outlook for global growth.

As of 1220 BST, futures were calling the Dow to open 0.62% lower at 25,212, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were indicating losses of 0.59% and 0.84%, respectively.

The Dow looked set to open 157 points lower on Wednesday, following on from its 237 point decline during the previous session.

With the world's two largest economies locked in a bitter trade dispute and disappointing economic data from other major economies, investors were seemingly in risk aversion mode as fears of another global recession reared their ugly head again.

The US Treasury Department declined to label China as a currency manipulator on Tuesday in their semi-annual foreign-exchange report to Congress.

The report comes despite Donald Trump's repeated complaint that Beijing weakens the renminbi to have the upper hand on the US in trade matters.

Although it did not label China as a manipulator, the report did expand the number of countries under scrutiny for possible FX manipulation from 12 to 21. Ireland, Italy, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia joined China, Japan, South Korea and Germany on a watch list for manipulation.

Market participants were also likely focussing on news that German unemployment had unexpectedly risen for the first time in almost two years, with the economic slowdown finally starting to take a toll on the nation's labour market. The number of German's out of work climbed by 60,000 in May.

Italy's dispute with the European Commission over its budget, wins for eurosceptic parties in EU elections and political turmoil in Austria and Greece added further concerns to an already unstable outlook for markets.

AxiTrader's chief market analyst James Hughes said: "Downbeat economic news and the fact there's no resolution in sight to the mounting global trade woes means that Wall Street is struggling to find much support as the week progresses.

With the Dow having clocked up some significant losses on Tuesday, futures point towards a similarly disappointing start to Wednesday's session with this morning's unexpected jump in German unemployment adding to fears that a slowdown is looming."

On the data front, the Richmond Fed manufacturing survey for May will be released at 1500 BST.

In corporate news, Abercrombie & Fitch will report its latest quarterly results ahead of the open, while Palo Alto Networks will post its most recent figures after the close.