(Reuters) – U.S. equity index futures fell Thursday as investors closely monitored the halted government fundraising bill amid the escalation of slowdowns driven by President Donald Trump's chaotic tariff policies.
The US Senate funding bill keeps the government running until September 30th.
The Republican-controlled House passed the bill early in the week. However, Senate Democrats sought a month extension of their existing spending and purchased time to complete the more comprehensive budget bill that year.
“The proposed alternative is a tentative funding plan until April 11th. It would simply postpone negative responses to inventory futures as it would defer key market risks,” an analyst at ING Research said in a memo.
Slow losses were plagued earlier this week as Trump blew domestic inflation and caused a tough trade war with allies that could cause a slowdown in the economy.
Trump's fluctuation policy rattles investors, brokerages downgrade U.S. stock outlook, and several companies are issuing downbeat forecasts.
American Eagle Outfitters is the latest retailer to forecast annual revenues below forecasts, bringing stocks in apparel manufacturers down 9.9% in pre-market trading.
All three major indices have wiped out post-election profits. The Benchmark S&P 500 almost confirmed a 10% correction drop from its record high on Tuesday.
In his latest tariff threat, Trump said that if the EU enacts retaliatory tariffs on US goods next month, it would impose additional penalties on European Union imports.
At 05:44 AM ET, the Dow E Minis fell 19 points, 0.05%, the S&P 500 E-MINIS at 6.25 points (0.11%) and the Nasdaq 100 E-Minis at 39.75 points (0.20%).
Signs that cooled consumer inflation gave investors some reprieve in the previous session. Their focus is now also in the producer price index data for February. This is scheduled to be released at 8:30am.
The core figures containing several components supplied to the US Federal Reserve's preferred personal consumption expenditure index are expected to increase by 3.5% in February, compared to a 3.6% increase in the previous month.
Weekly reports on unemployed claims are also being tapped later in the day.
According to data compiled by LSEG, investors are hoping that central banks will change their policy rates when they meet next week.
Among other stocks, Intel jumped 9.9% after the troubled chipmaker appointed Chief Executive Officer of industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan.
