US pre-open: Futures point to losses as positive trade news fades away
US stock futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street on Monday following a report that China wants to hold further discussions with the US before signing Donald Trump's so-called "phase one" trade deal.
As of 1230 BST, Dow futures were down 0.30%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures had the indices opening 0.33% and 0.41% softer, respectively.
The Dow closed 319.92 points higher on Friday after Trump told reporters at the Oval Office that the first phase of a major trade deal with China would be written over the next three weeks.
However, an early morning Bloomberg report claimed that Chinese trade officials wanted to hold more talks before the end of October in order to further discuss details of the "phase one" trade deal before an agreement is signed.
Trump had said on Friday that the deal did not include many details and also cautioned that it could take up to five weeks to get a pact written, suggesting that the two nations' agreement was more of a temporary truce than a full-blown trade pact.
Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson said: "Fake news? Maybe not entirely, but you can stick as much lipstick on it as you like and it will still be a pig.
"The Trump trade deal looks to be unravelling. What's concerning for the market is that the US and China are using different language to describe the deal and don't seem to be on the page at all."
No major economic data or corporate earnings were scheduled for release on Monday. Bond markets were closed to celebrate Columbus Day.