Dubai Debt Problems Ruin US Futures Market Mood on Black Friday

US stock market futures opened to weak trading on Black Friday, with investors’ nervousness about debt problems in Dubai World clearly visible. Investors are waiting anxiously to see how the short Wall Street session after the Thanksgiving holiday would unfold.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were last down 180 points, or 1.7%, to 10266 after having earlier fallen by as much as 327 points. Futures for the S&P 500 were down 24.3 points, or 1.7%, to 1026.6, while futures for the Nasdaq 100 fell 37.75 points, or 2.1%, to 1756.75.

Markets across the world have been falling steeply since Dubai World, the largest corporate entity in Dubai, asked its creditors for a six-month stay on the repayment of its $60 billion in debts on Wednesday. While the US markets were closed on Thursday, the Asian and European markets sold off on the news. Selling resumed in the Asian markets on Friday, with the Hang Seng Index slipping 4.8% and the Nikkei 225 Average falling 3.2%, marking their worst fall since March.