US pre-open: Futures slide amid heightened geopolitical worries

US stock futures turned south on Tuesday, as investors awaited a raft of economic data and amid a new rise in geopolitical tensions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open down approximately 68 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are set to begin the session nine and 22 points lower respectively.

Geopolitical tensions on the rise

Earlier on Tuesday, a Turkish military jet was reported to have shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, after it had allegedly entered Turkish airspace and ignored warnings to return.

“The heightened geopolitical threat from the downing of a Russian jet by a NATO member country while Brussels remains in lockdown is sending people into safe havens like the yen and gold and out of travel-sensitive stocks,” said CMC Markets’ analyst Jasper Lawler.

Following the downing of the Russian aircraft, European equities were firmly in the red, while Asian markets endured a mixed session as the slump in commodities prices continued to weigh on stocks in the region.

With the week shortened because of the Thanksgiving celebrations on Thursday, Wall Street will have plenty to digest in terms of economic data on Tuesday.

The final reading on third quarter gross domestic product is released at 1330 GMT, with analysts expecting the initial reading to be revised from 1.5% to 2.2%, while US trade data for October is out at the same time.

At 1400 GMT, investors will analyse a reading of the Case-Shiller index on home prices for September, followed by a report on consumer confidence for November at 1500 GMT.

“How the US markets react [to the raft of data] will be interesting,” said Spreadex’s financial analyst Connor Campbell.

“Yesterday’s two- year manufacturing low lifted the Dow after a limp open, so any negative fluctuation around those estimates could see the index edge into the green.”

Elsewhere, the dollar fell 0.10% and 0.31% against the euro and the yen respectively but gained 0.12% against the pound, while spot gold rose 0.53% to $1,074.80.

Oil prices rebounded, with West Texas Intermediate gaining 1% to $42.17 a barrel and Brent crude rising 1.17% to $45.36 a barrel.

In company news, high-end jeweller Tiffany & Co. and Campbell Soup are both set to report before the bell.