US pre-open: Oil price drop triggers falling markets
Updated : 13:05
US markets were set to shed any gains made this week after oil dropped and stayed below $30 a barrel.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was expected to fall over 290 points on opening, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set to begin the session at least 30 and 75 points lower respectively.
At 1330 GMT the Producer Price Indexes for December will be released along with US retail sales data.
Industrial and manufacturing production data for December will also be published at 1415GMT.
The University of Michigan Confidence survey for January will be out at 1500 GMT, as well as business inventories data for November.
Asia declines as China enters bear market
Elsewhere, Asia stocks declined as China entered a bear market and oil prices reversed the previous day’s gains.
China’s index was also weighed down by a report that some banks in Shanghai have suspended the acceptance of shares from smaller listed companies as collateral for loans.
“Interventions by Chinese authorities are beginning to wane and lack effect as the cycle of capital outflows, weaker yuan and general volatility undermines investor confidence globally,” said Brenda Kelly, head of analysts at London Capital Group.
The People’s Bank of China also revealed that Chinese banks issued 597.8bn yuan ($90.7 billion) of new yuan loans in December, down from 708.9bn yuan in November and below the 700 billion yuan that was forecast.
European markets slid, following in the footsteps of China and driven down due to oil prices.
Brent crude fell 3.50% to $29.80 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate dropped 4.81% to $29.70.
The dollar rose against the pound, up 0.58%, but sank 0.48% and 0.66% against the euro and the yen respectively. Spot gold was up 0.55% to $1,084.29.
In company news, General Electric had fallen 1.4% before opening after it announced it has agreed to sell its appliance unit to Qingdao Haier.
And all eyes will be on Wells Fargo, Citigroup, BlackRock and US Bancorp, with earnings result due before the market opens.