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U.S. stock index futures were sharply lower Thursday as U.S.-China trade worries persisted with more companies suspending business with Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average faltered 237 points, or 0.9%, to 25,534
Futures for the S&P 500 collapsed 25.75 points, or 0.9%, at 2,831.75
NASDAQ futures slumped 90.75 points, or 1.2%, to 7,339.25
U.K.-based chip designer Arm Holdings said it suspended business with Huawei to comply with the U.S. blacklisting of the telecom company. Panasonic also said it stopped shipping some smartphone components to Huawei. Vodafone and BT Group, the biggest phone carriers in the U.K., said they are removing Huawei phones from their 5G network plans.
Shares of Qualcomm and Xilinx fell more than 2% in the pre-market while Micron skidded 1.9%, and Lam Research declined 1.7%.
Apple shares also fell 1.5% after a UBS analyst cut his price target on the iPhone maker to $225 per share from $235. The analyst kept his buy rating on the stock, but noted that “a slightly lower multiple is prudent given soft smartphone market and ongoing U.S./China trade issues.”
The U.S. and China have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of one another’s goods since the start of 2018, battering financial markets and souring business and consumer sentiment. Tensions ratcheted up earlier this month with both sides hiking tariffs on their goods. This has led the S&P 500 to fall 3% for the month through Wednesday’s close.
Meanwhile, investors are likely to monitor a flurry of economic data reports on Thursday. The latest weekly jobless claims data are set to be published early in the morning, followed by a flash reading of manufacturing and services Purchasing Managers’ Index figures for May.
New home sales for April are scheduled for release later in the session.
Overseas, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.6% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index surrendered 1.6%.
Oil prices slipped $1.30 to $60.12 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $4.10 to $1,278.30 U.S. an ounce.
