US pre-open: Futures point to heavy losses following tumultuous Asian session

US futures had stocks opening sharply lower at the bell on Monday, following on from heavy losses seen across Asian indices overnight.

As of 1200 BST, Dow futures were down 1.27%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures had the main indices opening 1.35% and 1.74% weaker, respectively.

In addition to tumultuous Asian trading, US Treasuries were also seeing some big moves, with the yield on the closely watched 10-year note falling to as low as 1.768%.

Investors were also still focussed on tensions between Washington and Beijing, which re-escalated last week when Donald Trump surprised everyone with news that the US would be slapping 10% tariffs on a further $300bn-worth with of Chinese imports on 1 September.

The ongoing uncertainty surrounding trade between the two global superpowers sent the Chinese yuan lower on Monday, as the currency broke the key psychologically important level of seven yuan-per-dollar, which was last breached during the global financial crisis in 2008.

Oanda's Craig Elam said: "Last week did nothing to ease investor anxieties about the global economic outlook and time has not been a healer over the weekend.

"European markets opened more than 1% lower on Monday, continuing the slump from Asia overnight as traders fret about what US dollar rising above 7 against the Chinese yuan means for the economy and trade war."

The S&P 500 recorded its worst five day drop of 2019 last week, shedding 3.1%, while the Dow had its second-worst year-to-date, dropping by 2.6%.

On the data front, IHS Markit's services and composite PMIs for July were scheduled to be published at 1445 BST.

On the corporate calendar, Tyson Foods, SeaWorld and Lonestar Resources will all report earnings throughout the day.