US pre-open: Stocks to drop as German data sparks global growth worries
US stock futures pointed to a downbeat open on Wall Street on Friday, with sentiment set to take a hit as weak German manufacturing figures sparked worries about global growth.
At 1115 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all down 0.4%.
Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers' index for Germany fell to 44.7 in March from 47.6 in February, missing expectations for a reading of 48.0.
David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB, said: "Due to the country's large level of exports, German manufacturing is often seen as a bellwether of global economic activity and with this metric falling to its lowest level since August 2012 - and in doing so chalking up a third consecutive month in contraction territory with another PMI reading below 50 - it’s sending a clear and obvious warning sign on the health of the global economy."
Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics, said: "Given that we expect the global economy to continue to be quite weak, and China’s policy stimulus to do no more than stabilise its economy, we doubt that Germany will come out of its manufacturing recession anytime soon."
In corporate news, Nike shares were off 3.8% ahead of the opening bell after its third-quarter numbers late on Thursday.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "Adjusted EPS were 68 cents, which topped the 65 cent forecast, and revenue was $9.611 billion, broadly in line with forecasts. The Converse brand saw a 2% dip in sales, and that worried some investors."
Tiffany's was down 4% in pre-market trade after the jeweller's fourth-quarter earnings beat analysts' expectations, but sales were a miss.
Hibbett Sports saw its shares surge nearly 15% in pre-market trade as its fourth-quarter earnings topped forecasts.
Elsewhere, BlackRock was likely to be in focus following reports that it is advanced talks to buy French software company eFront for between $1bn and $1.5bn in a deal that could be announced within days.
On the data front, Markit's composite, services and manufacturing PMIs are due at 1345 GMT, while existing home sales and wholesale inventories are at 1400 GMT.