Futures drop on rising U.S.-Russia tensions over Syria
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[April 11, 2018]
By Sruthi Shankar
(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell
sharply on Wednesday due to rising concerns over confrontation between
the United States and Russia over military action in Syria.
The face-off between the two countries gained ground after Russia warned
that any U.S. missiles fired at Syria over a suspected chemical weapons
attack on a rebel enclave would be shot down.
As a reply, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that missiles "will be
coming" and blasted Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"There are some warnings about escalation of situation in Syria, that's
what's impacting... it could escalate into a greater military conflict,"
said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital
Securities in New York.

"Investors are probably going to take a little bit of a cautious
approach until the tensions in Syria diminishes."
At 7:29 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were down 259 points, or 1.06
percent. S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> fell 26.75 points, or 1.01 percent and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> declined 68 points, or 1.03 percent.
The main U.S. indexes closed up nearly 2 percent on Tuesday after
Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to lower import tariffs, in an
attempt to defuse trade dispute with the United States.
Investors will also looking forward to an update on inflation and
monetary policy.
The Labor Department is expected to say its seasonally adjusted consumer
price index will remain unchanged in March, after a 0.2 percent gain in
February.
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in
New York, U.S., April 10, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The core CPI is seen increasing 2.1 percent year-on-year, up from 1.8 percent in
the previous month. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The Federal Reserve is set to release the minutes of its meeting held in
mid-March, at which it voted to raise interest rates.
The minutes will also show the view within the Fed on the possible impact of the
Trump administration's trade policies.
Among stocks, Facebook Inc <FB.O> shares were down more than 1 percent in
premarket trading.
Shares closed up 4.5 percent on Tuesday after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg,
in the first of two U.S. congressional hearings, made no further promise to
support new legislation or change how the social network does business.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
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