Futures fall as regulatory woes hammer Chinese stocks

[July 26, 2021]  By Ambar Warrick

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pulled back from record highs on Monday as locally listed Chinese firms tumbled on tighter regulations in the mainland, souring sentiment at the start of a week packed with tech earnings.

China last week announced sweeping new rules on private tutoring and online education firms, the latest in a series of crackdowns on the technology sector that have roiled financial markets this year.

E-commerce major Alibaba Group and search engine Baidu Inc, two of the largest listed Chinese stocks in the United States, slipped 4.2% and 4.6% in premarket trade, respectively.

Ride-sharing app Didi Global, whose takedown earlier in July had brought Chinese regulations back into the spotlight, sank 14.0%.

U.S. S&P 500 E-minis were down 9.25 points, or 0.21%, at 06:23 a.m. ET. Dow E-minis were down 114 points, or 0.33%, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 16.25 points, or 0.11%

Wall Street had ended at record highs last week, as a strong earnings season helped offset concerns over the economic impact of a resurgence in coronavirus cases.

120 of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings so far, of which 88% have beaten consensus, according to Refinitiv data.

A two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve starting on Tuesday will also be watched by investors for more clues on the bank's planned tightening of monetary policy, given that inflation has been accelerating sharply in recent months.

Electric-car maker Tesla Inc was flat in early trade, ahead of its second-quarter earnings report after the market closes.

(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)

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