Stock futures tumble as China allows yuan to fall further

[January 07, 2016]  By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell sharply on Thursday after China allowed the yuan to fall further and oil prices slid to near 12-year lows, raising concerns over the state of the global economy.

* China allowed the biggest fall in the yuan in five months, and Shanghai stocks slid 7.3 percent to trigger the second trading halt this week.

* With Beijing accelerating the yuan's depreciation to make its exports more competitive, investors fear China's economy is even weaker than had been imagined.

* Oil slid below $33 a barrel to near 12-year lows, as a tumble in Chinese equities rattled investors already concerned by near-record production and massive stockpiles of unwanted crude and refined products. [O/R]

* European stocks were also at their lowest levels since late August, when concerns over China's economy roiled global stock markets.

* U.S. stocks closed at their lowest level since early October on Wednesday.

* Shares of Apple were down 2.9 percent to $97.80, following reports of slowing shipments of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.

* Oil majors Exxon and Chevron were down more than 2 percent, while miner Freeport-McMoRan saw its shares fall 5.2 percent to $5.85.

* Tech majors Facebook, Amazon and Yahoo were all down more than 2.5 percent.

Futures snapshot at 6:35 a.m. ET (1135 GMT):

* Dow e-minis were down 379 points, or 2.25 percent, with 90,751 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 45.25 points, or 2.28 percent, with 507,660 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 133.75 points, or 3.01 percent, on volume of 96,150 contracts.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
 

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