US pre-open: Oil prices send futures sliding

US futures were set to slide again as investors take note of falling oil prices and turn away from the high-risk equity market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was set to open down at least 167 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were expected to start the session 19 and 57 points lower respectively.

Markit’s US services and composite PMI for February will be released at 1445 GMT, while new home sales data for January is due at 1500 GMT.

Oil and gas inventories data will be released half an hour later at 1530 GMT.

Oil makes for a slippery day in Asia

Elsewhere, Wednesday brought grim news for most markets in Asia, amid a global slump in energy and banking stocks.

It followed falls in crude oil prices as well as results from Asia-exposed Standard Chartered, which reported its first annual loss since 1989 on worsening bad loans.

The yen was also clawing its way towards the greenback as investors rushed to the safe haven yet again.

"While [traders are] closely watching oil and stock prices, it seems investors are not taking positions," said Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank research head Ayako Sera, referring to the rush to the yen.

Basic resources paced the decline in European stocks on Wednesday, with energy issues also under the cosh as oil prices slid.

West Texas Intermediate was down 3.56% to $30.77 a barrel, while Brent was slightly ahead at $32.46, down 2.50%.

The dollar continued rose 0.95% against the pound and 0.51% against the euro, but dropped 0.25% against the yen. Spot gold was up 0.74% to $1,235.99.

In company news, shares in Chesapeake Energy dropped 1.4% after it reported a wider fourth quarter loss of $2.23bn and announced more cuts to capex and asset sales.

First Solar is set to open up 2% after its latest result beat expectations. The company cut its sales guidance for 2016 and reported a 6.5% drop in sales in its fourth quarter of $942.3m.

And BHP Billiton shares plunged 9% before the bell as oil prices dropped and after the company chopped its interim dividend by almost three quarters to 16 cents from 62 cents a year before.