US pre-open: Stocks to edge lower as Trump-Kim summit ends abruptly

US stocks looked set for moderate losses at the open on Thursday after US President Trump's denuclearisation summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was cut short, with no agreement reached.

At 1235 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were down 0.1% and 0.2% respectively, while Nasdaq futures were 0.4% weaker.

News that the Vietnam summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un ended with no agreement was set to weigh on the mood. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said earlier: "No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future."

Meanwhile, Trump said at a press conference in Hanoi that the talks had ended with no deal due to a disagreement over the lifting of sanctions.

"Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that." Trump said North Korea was willing to denuke a large portion of the areas the US wanted, "but we couldn’t give up all of the sanctions for that".

Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM, said the chances of a breakthrough deal happening any time soon are unlikely.

"However, Trump and Kim walking away from the negotiating table doesn’t mean bilateral relations between the two have taken a turn for the worse. With the summit ending amicably, this could open the doors for further talks in the future."

Sentiment was also likely to take a hit after data released earlier showed Chinese factory activity contracted to a three-year low in February. The official purchasing managers’ index released by Beijing's National Bureau of Statistics fell to 49.2 in February from 49.5 the month before, missing expectations for it to remain unchanged and still below.

In corporate news, shares in auction house Sotheby's could be active after it posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and revenue.

JC Penney was set to surge at the open after the department store chain's fourth-quarter earnings per share topped analysts' expectations.

Elsewhere, SeaWorld was trading down 3.2% in pre-market trade even as it reported a narrower-than-forecast loss for the fourth quarter and better-than-expected revenue.

Victoria's Secret parent L Brands was sharply lower in pre-market trade after the release of its quarterly earnings.

On the data front, initial jobless claims are at 1330 GMT, along with gross domestic product data for the fourth quarter, while the Chicago PMI is at 1445 GMT.