Dow futures wipe out gains to turn negative after China said its readying $75 billion counter-tariffs on U.S. goods
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YMU19, -0.48% erased healthy early gains on Friday after a report surfaced indicating that China was ready to take retaliatory measures in its lasting tariff conflict with the U.S.
A report from the Chinese ministry indicated that it was preparing to raise tariffs in two batches on $75 billion in U.S. imports on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, which would coincide with the dates that the U.S. is slated to increase import duties on some $300 billion Beijing goods.
The Dow futures were down 155 points, or 0.6%, at 26,074, those for the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.05%ESU19, -0.46% were down 0.6% at 2,906, while Nasdaq-100 futures were down 0.8% at 7,651.
Those stock-index futures were trading firmly higher ahead of the report on the back of comments from St. Louis Federal President James Bullard who said "insurance" rate cuts were needed to combat weakening growth outside of the U.S. The market is awaiting a highly anticipated speech from Jerome Powell on the monetary policy in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
In its statement China wrote that "US measures have led to the continuous escalation of Sino-US economic and trade frictions, which have greatly harmed the interests of China, the United States and other countries, and have also seriously threatened the multilateral trading system and the principle of free trade."
