U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday, the first trading day of June, after China’s rhetoric on U.S. trade relationship intensified over the weekend.
At around 6:52 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 93 points, indicating a drop of 95 points at the open. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 also fell. The Dow came into Monday’s session having logged in six straight weeks of losses, the index’s longest weekly slide since 2011.
Shares of Caterpillar and Boeing, two trade bellwethers of global trade, fell 2.2% and 1.1%, respectively. Alphabet shares also dropped 3% after the Justice Department is reportedly investigating the tech company for antitrust violations.
Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said in a white paper Sunday that Washington would not be able to use pressure to force a trade deal on Beijing. He also refused to say whether the leaders of both countries would meet at the G-20 summit to work out an agreement later this month.
Wang added: “The U.S. has backtracked, and when you give them an inch, they want a yard.”
The remarks from Wang follow a month of heightened trade tensions between the world’s largest economies. The U.S. hiked tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods in May. China retaliated with higher tariffs on U.S. imports.
Trade worries also rattled Wall Street last week after President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 5% charge on all imports from Mexico. The threat sent stocks tumbling on Friday.
On the data front, a final reading of manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) data for May will be released at around 9:45 a.m. ET. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index for May, construction spending figures for April and latest light vehicle sales data will all follow slightly later in the session.
