Futures fall on Trump impeachment push, Nike gains

By Sruthi Shankar and Ambar Warrick

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Wednesday as a move to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump injected a fresh dose of uncertainty, with forecast-beating results from Nike Inc helping dispel some gloom.

The inquiry, which pushed the S&P 500 (SPX) to post its biggest percentage drop in a month on Tuesday, worsened an already fragile sentiment after Trump hardened his stance over the trade dispute with China, saying he would not accept a “bad deal”.

Futures pointed to opening losses for the main three indexes, with trade-sensitive shares of chipmakers and industrial companies trending lower.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc (O:AMD), Intel Corp (O:INTC) and Nvidia Corp (O:NVDA) shed between 0.5% to 0.9% in premarket trading, while Boeing Co (N:BA) dropped 0.4%.

At 7:14 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 51 points, or 0.19%. S&P 500 e-minis were down 7.25 points, or 0.24% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 30.25 points, or 0.39%.

Nike’s shares (N:NKE) jumped 5.7% premarket, on course for a record open and likely boosting the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), after first-quarter results beat market expectations.

Shares in retailer Foot Locker Inc (N:FL) gained 1%.

Chipmaker Broadcom Inc (O:AVGO) dropped 3% after it priced an upsized offering of convertible preferred stock.

Investors will look to August new home sales data, due at 10:00 a.m. ET (1400 GMT), to gauge domestic spending strength ahead of the key holiday shopping season.

A weaker-than-expected consumer confidence reading on Tuesday had raised concerns over slowing individual spending, driving down several retail stocks, including Amazon.com Inc (O:AMZN).