US pre-open: Stocks continue to slide as Trump casts doubt over trade deal

US futures had stocks opening lower for a second straight session on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump indicated that a deal with China was not imminent.

As of 1230 GMT, Dow futures were down 0.41%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite futures were 0.33% and 0.45% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 268.37 points lower on Monday following a fresh round of punitive trade action against foreign nations from Washington and some weaker-than-expected manufacturing data.

As far as Tuesday was concerned, it didn't look like markets were ready to change pace after comments made by the President while in the UK for Nato's birthday summit.

"In some ways, I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal," Trump said at a London press conference. "But they want to make a deal now and we will see whether or not the deal is going to be right."

When pressed for a deadline on a deal, Trump added: "I have no deadline, no [...] In some ways, I think it is better to wait until after the election if you want to know the truth."

XTB analyst David Cheetham said: "Donald Trump has been particularly prominent in the press in the past 24 hours as he arrived in the UK for the 70th anniversary of Nato and a couple of separate remarks from the US president has caused a dip in equities.

"This morning comments that there is 'no deadline' on the timing of a China deal and that is 'probably better' to wait until after the 2020 election have caused an adverse market reaction with European stocks falling to the lowest level of the day and US futures dipping to levels not seen in a fortnight."

In corporate news, Salesforce and Marvell Technologies will report their latest earnings on Tuesday.

No major data points were scheduled for release.