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* Futures down: Dow 0.15 pct, S&P 0.22 pct, Nasdaq 0.31 pct
By Amy Caren Daniel
June 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dipped on
Friday, after a strong rally in the prior session that helped
the S&P 500 hit a record high, as rising tensions between the
United States and Iran kept investors on edge.
Tehran had received a message from President Donald Trump,
delivered through Oman overnight, warning that a U.S. attack was
imminent but adding he was against war and wanted talks, Iranian
officials told Reuters on Friday. They spoke shortly after the New York Times reported that
Trump had approved military strikes against Iran in retaliation
for the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone but called off the
attacks at the last minute.
The benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX closed at a new record of
2,954.18 on Thursday after the Federal Reserve signaled interest
rate cuts beginning as early as next month.
Money markets are pricing in three Fed rate cuts before
year-end and are tipping as many as five cuts through mid-2020.
FEDWATCH
Investors will now look to a G20 summit in Japan next week
for signs of progress on talks between the United States and
China to resolve their differences that had sparked the
benchmark index's worst monthly performance this year in May.
Oil prices rallied about 1% on fears that a U.S. military
attack on Iran that would disrupt flows from the Middle East,
which provides more than 20% of the world's oil output. O/R
At 6:35 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 39 points, or
0.15%. S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 6.5 points, or 0.22%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 24 points, or 0.31 %.
Chipmakers took a beating in premarket trading after
Britain's IQE Plc IQE.L became the latest semiconductor
company to warn on full-year revenue, citing the impact of the
Huawei ban.
Shares of Intel Corp INTC.O , Micron Technology MU.O and
Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O fell between 0.4% and 1.3%.
Among other stocks, Facebook Inc FB.O fell 0.6% after Bank
of England Governor Mark Carney said major central banks and
regulators will want oversight of the social media company's
proposed new currency and payment system Libra. Slack Technologies Inc WORK.N gained 4%, a day after the
workplace messaging platform soared nearly 50% in market debut.
On the macro front, Markit manufacturing sector flash PMI
data, due at 09:45 a.m. ET, is expected to show a reading 50.4
in June up from 50, a month earlier.
The PMI reading comes after data from Germany, France and
euro zone came in slightly higher in June compared to May.