Futures lower after weak Chinese economic data

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[May 03, 2016]  By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were sharply lower on Tuesday after weak Chinese economic data raised concerns about the health of the global economy.

* Activity at China's factories shrank for the 14th straight month in April as demand stagnated, a private survey showed, adding to questions over whether the world's second-largest economy is recovering.

* Australia's central bank also surprised markets by cutting interest rates to a record low of 1.75 percent. The majority of economists surveyed by Reuters had expected no change.

* The dollar index <.DXY>, a measure of the dollar's value against a basket of major currencies, fell to as low as 91.91. It was last there in January 2015.

* U.S. stocks rose on Monday, rebounding from losses last week, as financials gained with Berkshire Hathaway <BRKa.N> and the Nasdaq snapped a seven-session losing streak.

* Recovering oil prices and an accommodative Federal Reserve have helped the S&P 500 rise roughly 14 percent since mid-February.

* After raising interest rates in December for the first time in nearly a decade, the Fed held monetary policy steady last week. While the Fed kept the door open to a hike in June, it gave no signal that it was in a hurry to tighten further, even as the labor market improved.

* Oil prices fell as rising output from the Middle East and North Sea renewed concerns about a global supply overhang. [O/R]

* Shares of drugmaker Pfizer were up 2.9 percent at $33.76 in premarket trading after the company reported a rise in quarterly revenue.

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* Drugmaker Mylan  was up 5.2 percent at $44.94, after posting a 17 percent rise in quarterly revenue, helped by higher generic drug sales.

* Cosmetics maker Estee Lauder rose 1.9 percent to $98.99 as demand for M.A.C. and Smashbox makeup brands helped its quarterly revenue.

Futures snapshot at 7:14 a.m. ET (1114 GMT):

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 14.25 points, or 0.69 percent, with 180,180 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 31.75 points, or 0.73 percent, on volume of 21,796 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were down 119 points, or 0.67 percent, with 25,615 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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