U.S. Stocks May See Initial Weakness On Lingering Trade Worries

(RTTNews) - After ending last Thursday's session little changed, stocks are likely to come under pressure in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a sharply lower open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by 1.1 percent.

Lingering concerns about a global trade war are likely to weigh on Wall Street as traders await signs of progress on President Donald Trump's trade talks.

Potentially adding to the worries, China has threatened to retaliate against any countries that reach a trade deal with the U.S. at the expense of China's interests.

A spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce was asked to respond to reports the Trump administration is preparing to put pressure on other countries to restrict trade with China in exchange for U.S. tariff exemptions.

"If this happens, China will never accept it and will resolutely take countermeasures in a reciprocal manner," the spokesman responded, according to a Google translation. "China is determined and capable of safeguarding its own rights and interests."

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to release of earnings news from several big-name companies later this week.

Tesla (TSLA), Boeing (BA), IBM Corp. (IBM), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Intel (INTC) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results in the coming days.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on durable goods orders and new and existing home sales, although any developments on the trade front are likely to remain in the spotlight.

Not long after the start of trading, the Conference Board is scheduled to release its report on leading economic indications in the month of March. The leading economic index is expected to decrease by 0.5 percent in March after falling by 0.3 percent in February.

Following the sell-off seen during Wednesday's session, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the Nasdaq edged down 20.71 points or 0.1 percent to 16,286.45, the S&P 500 inched up 7.00 points or 0.1 percent to 5,282.70.

The narrower Dow showed a more significant move to the downside, tumbling 527.16 points or 1.3 percent to 39,142.23.

For the holiday-shortened week, the S&P 500 slumped by 1.5 percent, while the Nasdaq and the Dow plunged by 2.6 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are closed on the day in honor of Easter Monday.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are tumbling $1.61 to $63.07 a barrel after surging $2.21 to $64.68 a barrel last Thursday. Meanwhile, after sliding $18 to $3,328.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $83.10 to $3,411.50 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 140.97 yen versus the 142.18 yen it fetched on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1525 compared to last Friday's $1.1393.