Futures tied to major U.S. equity averages fell on Friday after an executive order from President Donald Trump raised tensions further with China. Investors were also eyeing virus stimulus talks in Washington and a big jobs report due Friday.
Futures for Dow Jones Industrials dropped 122 points, or 0.5%, early Friday, to 27,163.
Futures for the S&P 500 subsided 13.5 points, or 0.4%, at 3,330.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ sank 42.75 points, or 0.4%, to 11,218.50.
Stateside, the U.S. Labor Department reported that jobs increased by 1.763 million in July, dwarfing the expected 1.48 million.
The overnight moves came after U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday issued executive orders to address “the threat posed” by Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat. As part of the order, any transaction with ByteDance and Tencent, the parent companies of TikTok and WeChat, respectively, will be barred in 45 days.
It comes as tensions between Washington and Beijing continue to escalate over several issues including the origins of the coronavirus and democracy in Hong Kong.
Talks between negotiators ended Thursday evening without a breakthrough in sight as discussions edged closer to the Trump administration’s Friday deadline for striking an agreement. White House officials criticized Democrats as uncompromising while Democrats argued that the GOP failed to appreciate the severity of the recession.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.4% while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 1.6%.
Oil prices fell 51 cents to $41.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $4.50 to $2,063.90.