NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures fell more than 1 percent late on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he has instructed U.S. trade officials to consider $100 billion in additional tariffs on China.
S&P 500 e-mini futures EScv1 were down 1.4 percent in trading for the overnight session. Dow futures 1YMcv1 were down 1.7 percent.
Trump, in a statement, said he proposed the additional tariffs “in light of China’s unfair retaliation” against earlier U.S. tariff actions.
“These potential trade wars are not good for the market,” said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. “I don’t think the market will perceive them as good for the economy, so therefore they’re not good for the market. It doesn’t surprise me that as the rhetoric heats up that the market is weak.”
During the regular session, the Dow .DJI and the S&P 500 .SPX posted gains for a third day in a row, the longest streak in about a month, as investors' worries of an escalating trade conflict between the United States and China began to ease.
On Wednesday, Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the administration was involved in a “negotiation” with China rather than a trade war.
Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Sandra Maler
