US pre-open: Stocks seen lower amid growth, trade concerns

US stocks looked set for losses at the open on Friday as worries about global growth and trade relations between the US and China weighed on sentiment.

At 1130 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were down 0.3%, while Nasdaq futures were 0.5% lower.

Sino-US relations were in focus again after Trump said on Thursday that he wasn't planning on meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping before the truce deadline, prompting concerns that the two nations won't strike a deal before the end of the 90-day period.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said the news has raised concerns in the absence of another extension to the trade truce that the global economy will struggle to absorb further costs on goods and services.

"Against a backdrop of slowing growth and lower forecasts its certainly unwelcome that President’s Trump and Xi won’t be meeting in the next couple of weeks, however it doesn’t mean that we won’t see another tariff suspension in order for talks to continue, and that might be something that investors might be able to hang their hats on when China returns from its Lunar New Year holiday."

Investors were also likely to be wary following a report that Trump is planning on signing an executive order banning Chinese telecom equipment from US wireless networks. According to Politico, the administration plans to release the directive before the MCW Barcelona conference, formerly the Mobile World Congress, later this month.

Meanwhile, concerns about global growth were expected to rumble on after the European Commission slashed its forecasts for eurozone economic growth this year and the next on Thursday and said China's economy may be slowing more than expected.

On the corporate front, earnings are due from the likes of Hasbro, Arconic and Philips.