Negative sentiment takes a slight lead before the bell

U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday as investors braced for another wild day amid lingering trade war fears.

Overnight, Bloomberg reported that the U.S. is holding off on giving permission to U.S. companies to use Huawei products, citing people familiar with the matter. This comes after China decided to stop buying American crops and after the U.S. officially declared China a currency manipulator earlier this week.

Chip stocks fell on the news. Micron Technology and Advanced Micro Devices both traded more than 1% lower in the premarket while Skyworks Solutions slipped 0.7%.

Still, traders are also keeping a close eye on the bond market, where the recent appetite for U.S. debt has pushed a bond market recession indicator close to a warning zone. If investors trigger a recession warning in the bond market that tends to be negative for stocks.

In Europe, bank stocks led markets lower Friday morning as Italian lenders tumbled on political uncertainty in the country. Italy’s coalition government imploded on Thursday evening, as deputy prime minister and leader of Italy’s ruling Lega party, Matteo Salvini, declared the arrangement unworkable and called for fresh general elections.

Source: CNBC

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