US STOCKS-Futures tumble on fears of possible U.S.-China tech cold war

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* Futures fall: Dow 0.87%, S&P 0.87%, Nasdaq 1.18%

By Shreyashi Sanyal
May 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slid on
Thursday, as investors worried that the U.S.-China trade war
could spiral into a technology cold war between the two
countries, with no signs of resolution in sight.
Beijing said Washington needs to correct its "wrong actions"
for trade talks to continue after the United States blacklisted
Huawei Technology Co Ltd HWT.UL last week. Although the Trump administration temporarily eased curbs on
the Chinese telecoms gear maker, tensions again mounted
following reports on Wednesday that the United States was
considering sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm
Hikvision.
Investors now fret that tit-for-tat tariffs and other
retaliatory actions by the world's two largest economies will be
a drag on global growth, especially hitting the high-growth
technology sector.
Apple Inc AAPL.O shares fell 1.7% in premarket trading,
while those of chipmakers, which have a higher revenue exposure
to China, also declined. Intel Corp INTC.O , Micron Technology
Inc MU.O and Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O slipped between 1.7% and
3.6%
Tepid data from the eurozone added to the downbeat tone. A
private survey showed business growth accelerating at a
slower-than-expected pace this month, weighed down by a
deepening contraction in the bloc's manufacturing industry.

At 7:06 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 223 points,
or 0.87%. S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 25 points, or 0.87%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 88 points, or 1.18%.
The prolonged U.S.-China trade war has rattled financial
markets, knocking the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX index 3.4% off
its record high hit on May 1. The index is now on track to post
its worst monthly decline of the year.
Investors on Wednesday largely shrugged off the release of
minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, in
which officials agreed that their patient approach to setting
monetary policy could remain in place "for some time."
Tesla Inc TSLA.O fell 3.3%, set to add to a six-day slump,
which has pushed its closing price to below $200 for the first
time since 2016. Hormel Foods Corp HRL.N fell 2.3% after the packaged meat
producer cut its full-year earnings forecast.
In a bright spot, L Brands Inc LB.N jumped 12.4% after the
retailer reported better-than-expected earnings, helped by sales
at its Bath & Body Works business. A Commerce Department report, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is
expected to show new home sales declined to a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of 675,000 in April, after having risen to
692,000 units in March.
A separate report due later is expected to show Markit's
purchasing managers survey of manufacturing activity edged down
to 52.5 in May from 52.6 in the previous month.