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* Tariff deadline on Chinese imports looms
* Apple off as CS says China iPhone shipments fell in Nov
* Starbucks rises after JPM upgrade
* Futures down: Dow 0.11%, S&P 500 0.03%, Nasdaq 0.08%
(Adds comments, updates throughout)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Dec 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were set to open
modestly lower on Thursday, with investors staying on the
sidelines ahead of the imposition of a fresh round of tariffs on
Chinese goods.
U.S. President Donald Trump has just days to decide whether
to go ahead with tariffs on nearly $160 billion in Chinese
consumer goods just weeks before Christmas, a move that could be
unwelcome in both the United States and China. "Because the administration is prone to putting out surprise
statements on trade, investors are afraid to get too far in
front on the likelihood of any bad news," said Rick Meckler,
partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.
"There was news earlier in the week that the tariffs won't
go into effect but unless we see some material developments on
that, we are likely to hold at this range."
Apple Inc AAPL.O fell 1.1% in premarket trading after
Credit Suisse said China iPhone shipments dropped in November.
Stock index futures edged higher initially, a day after the
Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and signaled
borrowing costs will not change anytime soon.
Wall Street's main indexes have touched record highs
recently, supported by three rate cuts this year, a calmer tone
on trade and some relief in corporate earnings. The S&P 500
index .SPX is now up 25% so far this year. Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing
applications for unemployment benefits jumped to more than a
two-year high last week, while another report showed U.S.
producer prices were unexpectedly unchanged in November. At 8:55 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 31 points,
or 0.11%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 1 points, or 0.03%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 7 points, or 0.08%.
Investors across the globe braced for a Brexit-defining
election in Britain, with exit polls set to begin at 5 p.m. ET
(2200 GMT).
Starbucks Corp SBUX.O rose 1.7% in after J.P.Morgan
raised its rating on the coffee chain to "overweight".
General Electric GE.N climbed 3.2% after UBS upgraded the
industrial conglomerate's shares to "buy".
Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N rose 2% as the carrier
sees another annual rise in profit and revenue in 2020.