Futures dip with Apple

[September 13, 2017]  By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dipped on Wednesday as Apple fell on concerns about the price and shipping date of the new iPhone X and as North Korea showed a trademark defiance over new U.N. sanctions.

* Apple's shares fell 0.56 percent in premarket trading, likely to keep the major Wall Street indexes from reaching for new highs. The stock closed 0.4 percent lower at $160.86 after a volatile session on Tuesday.

* The highly-anticipated launch had few surprises as far as upgrades in the iPhone X, but the $999 price tag raised eyebrows and the Nov. 3 shipping date prompted questions about possible supply constraints ahead of the holiday season.

* North Korea also continued to keep the market on edge, after vowing to redouble efforts to fight off what it said was the threat of a U.S. invasion.

* That was a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.N. sanctions were a small step and nothing compared to what would have to happen to deal with Pyongyang's nuclear program.

* Gold prices edged higher as the tensions simmered and as investors looked ahead to U.S. inflation data on Thursday that will give clues about the pace of interest rate rises.

* Wall Street indexes closed at record highs on Tuesday, led by banks, despite the drop in Apple.

* Centene rose 4.5 percent premarket after the health insurer said it would buy privately held Fidelis Care for $3.75 billion to enter New York.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., September 8, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

* Western Digital fell more 2 percent after Toshiba said it agreed to focus on selling its prized chips unit to a group led by Bain Capital and SK Hynix <000660.KS>, but did not rule out a deal with other bidders.

* Micron Technology was up more than 1 percent after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral".

Futures snapshot at 6:59 a.m. ET (1059 ET):

* Dow e-minis were down 25 points, or 0.11 percent, with 5,983 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 4.25 points, or 0.17 percent, with 117,909 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 15 points, or 0.25 percent, on volume of 8,395 contracts.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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