Futures lower as North Korea tensions extend to third day

[August 10, 2017]  By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were lower on Thursday as investors remained cautious in the face of continuing tensions between the United States and North Korea.

* North Korea on Thursday detailed plans for a missile strike near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. The nuclear-armed nation said it was finalizing plans to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land 18-25 miles from Guam.

* The latest round of tensions began after U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned North Korea that it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States.

* However, U.S. stocks recovered temporarily late on Wednesday as investors appeared to brush off the geopolitical concerns following encouraging comments from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

* Investors will also be keeping an eye out on retail results as second-quarter earning season winds down.

* Shares of Kohl's <KSS.N> were up 3.96 percent in premarket trading after the department store operator reported a rise in quarterly profit.

* Oil prices were lifted by a sustained decline in inventories and as Saudi Arabia prepared to cut crude supplies to its prized Asian customers. [O/R]

* Among economic data, the U.S. Labor Department is likely to report that initial jobless claims remained unchanged at 240,000 for the week ended Aug. 5. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT)

* Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley will make an appearance later in the day and his comments will be parsed for clues regarding the future pace of interest rate hikes.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., July 17, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

* The Labor Department is also expected to issue its Producer Price Index (PPI), which is likely to have remained unchanged at 0.1 percent in July.

* Perrigo was up 9.5 percent after the company raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast.

* Blue Apron shares rose 6.73 percent after the meal-kit delivery service provider reported a rise in revenue in its first quarterly report since debut.

* Twenty-First Century Fox Inc was down 2.65 percent following quarterly revenue that fell short of expectations.

Futures snapshot at 7:16 a.m. ET:

* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were down 54 points, or 0.25 percent, with 25,272 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were down 10.25 points, or 0.41 percent, with 180,193 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were down 40.25 points, or 0.68 percent, on volume of 29,918 contracts.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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