US STOCKS-Futures fall as China data weighs ahead of bank earnings, economic data

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* Futures down: Dow 0.67%, S&P 0.74%, Nasdaq 1.40%

By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on
Thursday after a surprise drop in China's retail sales signaled
a bumpy economic recovery, with investors now turning to the
next set of quarterly bank earnings and economic data to gauge
the pace of a domestic rebound.
U.S. retail sales for June and weekly jobless claims, both
due at 8:30 a.m. ET, are likely to show the economy continuing
to limp out of a coronavirus-driven slump as several states
eased lockdowns from May.
But a recent surge in domestic coronavirus cases have forced
states such as California to shut down again, sparking fears of
more economic damage and slowing the pace of a Wall Street
rally.
Stock markets in Asia and Europe fell earlier in the day
after data showed China's retail sales fell 1.8% in June. Stocks
in mainland China .SSEC sank 4.5%. MKTS/GLOB
At home, Bank of America Corp BAC.N shares edged lower
after it reported a more than 50% decline in second-quarter
profit, setting aside $4 billion for potential loan losses tied
to the coronavirus pandemic. Morgan Stanley MS.N is due to report quarterly results
later in the day, wrapping up what has been a mixed bag of
quarterly earnings updates from the top six U.S. lenders.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N was flat as it posted a 35.3% fall
in quarterly profit as demand for its medical devices was
hammered by hospitals putting off non-urgent procedures such as
knee and hip replacement. Diversified manufacturer Honeywell HON.N and medical
device maker Abbott Laboratories ABT.N are also slated to
report their quarterly results on Thursday.
At 6:29 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 179 points,
or 0.67%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 23.75 points, or
0.74% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 150 points, or
1.4%.
Twitter Inc TWTR.N fell 6.6% in premarket trading as
hackers accessed its internal systems to hijack some of the
platform's top voices including U.S. presidential candidate Joe
Biden, reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, former U.S.
President Barack Obama and billionaire Elon Musk and used them
to solicit digital currency. Tesla Inc TSLA.O dropped 4.9% as its vehicle registrations
nearly halved in the U.S. state of California during the second
quarter, according to data from a marketing research firm.