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China's central bank slashed key lending rates to revive demand
as data showed the economy unexpectedly slowing in July, with
factory and retail activity squeezed by Beijing's zero-COVID
policy and a property crisis.
Megacap growth and technology stocks such as Apple Inc and
Amazon.com Inc slid 0.5% each in trading before the bell, while
banks also edged lower after posting six straight weeks of
gains.
Oil stocks Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp, Halliburton Co and
Marathon Oil Corp fell between 1.6% and 3.3% as crude prices
tumbled on concerns over demand in China, the world's largest
crude importer.
At 06:37 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 179 points, or 0.53%,
S&P 500 e-minis were down 23.25 points, or 0.54%, and Nasdaq 100
e-minis were down 52.5 points, or 0.39%.
Wall Street has rallied over the last few weeks, with the
benchmark S&P 500 index clawing back over half of its losses
this year as optimism seeped back into markets following data
that raised hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve can achieve a soft
landing for the economy.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their fourth straight week of
gains on Friday even as Fed officials pushed back on
expectations that the central bank will end its rate hikes
sooner than anticipated, and economists warned that inflation
could return in the coming months.
Traders are seeing nearly equal odds of the Fed hiking rates by
50 basis points or 75 basis points in September.
Meanwhile, U.S.-listed shares of Canadian miner Turquoise Hill
Resources Ltd plunged 26% on rejecting an offer by majority
shareholder Rio Tinto Ltd to buy the 49% stake it doesn't
already own for $2.7 billion.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shounak Dasgupta)
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