Gold prices steady, holding sharp gains in wake of soft U.S. jobs data
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* Futures off: Dow 0.09%, S&P 0.18%, Nasdaq 0.29%
(Updates shares, adds analyst comment)
By Uday Sampath Kumar
Sept 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to open lower on
Tuesday as weak economic data from China pointed to slowing
growth in the world's second largest economy, adding to fears of
a global recession.
China's producer price index fell 0.8% in August, the
sharpest pace of decline in three years, as businesses slashed
prices to cope with flagging demand amid a bruising trade war
with the United States. Shares of U.S. chipmakers, which generate a big chunk of
revenue from China, came under pressure in premarket trading.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O , Nvidia Corp NVDA.O and
Applied Materials Inc AMAT.O fell between 0.6% and 1.1%.
Declines in technology and healthcare stocks kept Wall
Street subdued in the previous session as investors held out for
policy decisions from central banks on potential monetary
easing.
While the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank
(ECB) are widely expected to cut interest rates over the next
two weeks, investors doubt the extent to which central banks'
measures will stem an economic slowdown.
"Expectations may be in front of themselves about the amount
of new monetary policy stimulus that the ECB is going to move
forward with," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at
National Securities in New York.
However, a prolonged U.S.-China trade war could dull the
effect of potential rate cuts on economic growth, Hogan said.
Among other stocks, Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co F.N fell 3.6% after
ratings agency Moody's downgraded its bonds to junk status
overnight.
Separately, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee laid out
plans to hold hearings into the Justice Department's decision to
open an antitrust investigation into Ford and three other
automakers. The so-called FAANG set of stocks were also lower, with
Apple Inc AAPL.O dipping 0.1% ahead of an event where it is
widely expected to unveil its latest iPhones. Details on its new
video streaming service could also move shares of Netflix Inc
NFLX.O and Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Co DIS.N .
Later in the day, Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co BA.N is set to report aircraft
deliveries for the first eight months of 2019, which will give
investors a deeper look into the effect of the grounding of 737
MAX jets.
At 8:40 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 25 points,
or 0.09%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 5.25 points, or
0.18% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 23 points, or
0.29%.