US STOCKS-Futures fall as China trade war fears add to coronavirus woes

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* Futures fall: Dow 0.99%, S&P 0.98%, Nasdaq 1.06%

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By Ambar Warrick and Medha Singh
May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on
Friday after the Trump administration moved to block shipments
of semiconductors to China's Huawei Technologies from global
chipmakers, a move that could ramp up trade tensions between
Washington and Beijing.
This comes after President Donald Trump on Thursday signaled
a further deterioration of his relationship with China over the
virus outbreak, going so far as to suggest he could even cut
ties with the world's second largest economy. A renewed Sino-U.S. trade war could exacerbate the economic
downturn caused by the virus outbreak.
Trade-sensitive chipmakers Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O , Micron
Technology Inc MU.O and Texas Instruments Inc TXN.O fell
between 2.7% and 3.1% premarket.
"The overarching concern that we've had as this epidemic has
worked its way around the globe is that U.S.-China relations are
heading in the wrong direction and that can cause a worse
economic effect than the pandemic itself," said Art Hogan, chief
market strategist at National Securities in New York.
Wall Street's main indexes ended a choppy session higher on
Thursday, with the S&P 500 rising more than 1% as investors
looked forward to the prospect of some U.S. states lifting curbs
on business and social activities.
Still, all three major U.S. stock indexes are set for their
worst week since mid-March, as sobering comments on the outbreak
from major U.S. officials pointed to a longer period of economic
weakness.
At 7:40 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 234 points,
or 0.99%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 28 points, or 0.98%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 96.5 points, or 1.06%.
Stock futures initially rose on Friday after positive
Chinese industrial output data indicated certain facets of the
economy would be able to bounce back quickly from the outbreak.
However, retail sales in China fell more than expected in
April, pointing to a large dent in consumption.
U.S. retail sales are also expected to mark a second
straight month of record declines in April due to the pandemic.
The Commerce Department's report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Abbott Laboratories ABT.N slipped 3% after U.S. Food and
Drug Administration said the company's speedy coronavirus test
could potentially be inaccurate, but can still be used to test
patients. SPDR S&P 500 ETFs SPY.P were down 1.0%.