US STOCKS-Wall St set to fall amid rising virus cases, U.S.-China friction

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* Intel set to hit four-month low
* Disney falls after postponing "Mulan" release indefinitely
* Goldman Sachs up after $3.9 bln settlement for 1MDB
dispute
* Futures down: Dow 0.35%, S&P 0.37%, Nasdaq 1.01%

(Adds quote, details; Updates prices)
By Medha Singh
July 24 (Reuters) - Sino-U.S. tensions and fears over
mounting COVID-19 cases were set to weigh on Wall Street's main
indexes at the open on Friday, while shares in Intel slumped
after it flagged delays in developing new chip technology.
For the third straight day United States recorded more than
1,100 deaths related to the novel coronavirus, which has
infected about 4 million Americans. Walt Disney Co DIS.N postponed the debut of its movie
"Mulan" indefinitely, sending its shares down 2.3% premarket.
Leading declines among components of the Dow index trading
premarket, Intel Corp INTC.O fell 13.8% after the company said
it was six months behind schedule in developing next-generation,
power-efficient chip technology and it would consider farming
out more work to outside semiconductor foundries. Rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O gained 7%.
The S&P 500 pulled back from a five-month high on Thursday,
weighed down by losses in technology stocks, a surprise increase
in U.S. jobless claims and Washington's tug-of-war over stimulus
measures.
"Yesterday we saw a slowdown in the labor market recovery
... if that type of data starts to manifest itself in
manufacturing and services numbers, such as the PMIs, then that
will cause more concern of a further downdraft," said Keith
Buchanan, portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta.
"Confirmation that the economy is getting itself out of this
deep hole would keep the momentum higher, but anything less,
even a stagnation will not be well received at all."
Optimism about a potential coronavirus vaccine and fiscal
stimulus package has helped the benchmark S&P 500 recoup all of
its losses for the year and rise 0.1%.
On the economic calendar, Markit business surveys for June
are due at 9:45 a.m. ET, while new home sales data is expected
at 10 a.m. ET.
Sentiment took a hit earlier in the day after Beijing
ordered Washington to close its consulate in the city of
Chengdu, days after U.S. ordered the closure of the Chinese
consulate in Houston. At 8:37 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 93 points,
or 0.35%, and S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 12 points, or
0.37%.
Futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 index NQcv1 were down
106.5 points, or 1.01%, as high-flying companies such as
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O and Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O , which were pivotal in driving the stock market's
recovery in recent months, slipped between 1.0% and 1.6%.
Of the 113 S&P 500 companies that have reported quarterly
results, 77% of them have beaten dramatically lowered profit
estimates, according to IBES Refinitiv data.
Credit card issuer American Express Co AXP.N slipped 1.2%
after it reported an 85% slump in quarterly profit. U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N rose
0.6% after reaching a $3.9 billion settlement with the Malaysian
government over the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal.