US pre-open: Wall Street set to fall on 10th anniversary of financial crisis

Stock futures are all pointing to a lower start on the tenth anniversary of the start of the global financial crisis after Washington and Pyongyang traded barbs overnight.

As of 1245 BST, futures markets were calling the Dow Jones Industrials lower by 41.00 points to 21,989.00, with the S&P 500 down by 10.50 points to 2,462.25 and the Nasdaq-100 seen starting the day off by 35.75 points at 5,882.25.

"We're seeing significant risk aversion in the markets on Wednesday, with the escalation in tensions between the US and North Korea triggering moves into safe haven assets," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

Perhaps due to the importance of Wednesday's anniversary, there was appeared to be a fair bit of analysts chatter regarding what the chances and implication of a sharp correction in equity markets might be

In a research note sent to clients, Capital Economics conceded there were similarities between the then current state of the US economy and financial markets and what they were back in 2007.

Thankfully, Capital Economics told clients it did not share those concerns because high valuation in equity markets were the result of a secular decline in real interest rates.

Be that as it may, for Gabriel Sterne at Oxford Economics there was a "reasonable possibility" of a significant correction due to "rich" valuations.

A 10% decline resulting from less "irrational exuberance" could reduce activity in advanced economies by 0.3%, with those with the most developed financial markets, such as the UK and US, likely "most affected", Sterne said.

On the economic front, according to the Department of Labor US labor productivity grew by 0.9% quarter-on-quarter over the three months to June (consensus: 0.8%), while unit labor costs were 0.6% higher (consensus: 1.0%).

Still on the economic calendar for Wednesday was the latest reading on US wholesale inventories for the month of June, at 1500 BST.

Shares in Michael Kors shot higher after the luxury fashion retailer posted stronger-than-expected first quarter earnings per share and sales of 90 cents and $952.4m, respectively.

Netflix was being called some 4% lower ahead of the opening bell after Walt Disney said it would stop providing its branded movies for the company's streaming service from 2019 while announcing plans to launch a rival offering.

Tripadvisor was another top-faller after warning that it was "incrementally more cautious" regarding the outlook for the backhalf of the year.

Tribune Media missed analysts forecasts with its second quarter top and bottom-line numbers of 36 cents per share and $469.5m.

American Airlines was trading on the back foot after reporting a July load factor of 84.3%, down from 85.2% one year ago.

Mylan NV stock sank on the back of a disappointing set of financials for the three months to June and after providing weaker-than-expected guidance for 2017.