(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* U.S. factory activity data due later on Tuesday
* Casino stocks under pressure from weak Macau data
* Trade sensitive Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Boeing (NYSE:BA) down
* Futures down: Dow 0.65%, S&P 500 0.50%, Nasdaq 0.47%
(Updates prices, adds comment)
By Uday Sampath Kumar
Sept 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to open lower on
Tuesday, as Washington's new round of tariffs on some Chinese
goods kicked in and after a report that officials from both
sides were struggling to decide on the schedule for a meeting
this month.
Shares of trade-sensitive industrial bellwethers Caterpillar
Inc CAT.N and Boeing Co BA.N fell about 2% each in premarket
trading, while those of Apple Inc AAPL.O fell 1%.
The tariffs that went into effect on Sunday are making
investors increasingly cynical towards the trade war, which has
dominated economic headlines for over a year, Peter Cardillo,
chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York
said.
A monthly survey on manufacturing activity by the Institute
for Supply Management, due at 10 a.m. ET, is expected to shed
some light on the impact of the trade war on the U.S. industrial
sector.
The ISM manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) is
expected to dip to 51.1 in August, from 51.2 in the month
before.
Although U.S. factory activity has been slowing in recent
months, the ISM's index has so far stayed above 50, indicating
expansion in the sector.
"We're getting very close to a contraction and obviously if
we get any number in today's report that does take us even
closer then that would be one more nail in the coffin in terms
of economic weakness," Cardillo said.
The S&P 500 index .SPX fell 1.8% in August, its biggest
monthly drop since May, after escalating trade tensions and the
inversion of a key part of the U.S. yield curve, seen as a sign
of recession, drove investors toward safe-haven assets.
The benchmark index, however, ended the week up nearly 3% as
trade tensions were dialed down following signals that Beijing
and Washington would meet in September for talks.
Bloomberg, however, reported on Monday that the two sides
were yet to agree on a date for the planned meeting.
The Trump administration on Sunday began collecting 15%
tariff on more than $125 billion in Chinese imports, while China
began imposing new duties on U.S. crude. Chipmakers, which draw a large portion of their revenue from
China, also fell, with Intel Corp INTC.O , Advanced Micro
Devices AMD.O and Micron Technology Inc MU.O off between
0.7% and 1.6%.
At 8:47 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 171 points,
or 0.65%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 14.5 points, or 0.5%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 36.25 points, or 0.47%.
Along with the manufacturing data, investors will also keep
a close watch on the monthly jobs report due on Friday for clues
on the health of the U.S. economy.
U.S. casino operators felt the brunt of slowing economic
growth in China as gambling hub Macau posted an 8.6% decline in
August casino revenue, sending shares of Wynn Resorts Ltd
WYNN.O , Las Vegas Sands Corp LVS.N and MGM Resorts
International MGM.N down between 1.6% and 2%. Shares of Ulta Beauty ULTA.O fell 1.6%, extending a slide
from Friday, after Citigroup (NYSE:C) cut the rating on the cosmetics
retailer's stock to "neutral".