US pre-open: Futures point to losses as Trump ends trade war ceasefire

US stocks looked set to open lower on Friday as Donald Trump break the trade war truce with threats of hitting Chinese imports with more tariffs.

As of 1220 BST, Dow futures were 0.14% lower, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures had the indices opening 0.22% and 0.45% weaker, respectively.

The Dow slipped into the red by the closing bell on Thursday, having opened higher after the Federal Reserve cut its target interest rates for the first time in more than a decade a day earlier.

Stocks turned south after Donald Trump threatened to slap an additional 10% tariff on $300bn worth of Chinese goods being imported into the US from 1 September.

The president broke a truce in the long-running trade war between the world's two largest economies with the move, which came just a day after US and Chinese officials wrapped up a short bout of trade talks in Shanghai.

The Chinese foreign ministry swung back at the White House on Friday morning, saying the US needed to lose its illusions, take some responsibility and get back on track to wrap up the trade war.

According to Reuters, China's spokesperson at the foreign ministry, Hua Chunying, said Beijing would be forced to take countermeasures if the US went ahead with the tariffs.

Oanda's Craig Erlam said: "It goes without saying that Trump's latest batch of tariffs are taking their toll on markets at the end of the week.

"Trump is no stranger to strong-arm tactics to get what he wants but this feels a little impulsive even for him. It's clear he wants this wrapped up soon rather than having it hang over next year's election, especially if the economy continues to falter as a result, but he's now taking big risks because if China doesn't play ball, he'll have to go all-in and that could cost him."

On the data front, nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate figures for July will be released at 1330 BST alongside June's trade balance data. Factory orders and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for July will follow at 1500 BST.

In terms of corporate news, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Arconic will all post their latest quarterly figures on Friday.