US Stocks Head For Rough Start To Week As China Protests Become International Concern — Tesla, Apple, Oil Stocks Slump Premarket

The U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower start for Wall Street stocks on Monday, as the upward momentum built over the last week falters amid geopolitical tensions.

U.S. stocks advanced in the holiday-shortened week that ended Nov. 25 as traders returned to buying ways encouraged by the less-hawkish minutes of the November Fed meeting. The 30-stock Dow Industrials average has been an outperformer and is now perched at its highest level in more than three months.

Here’s a peek into index futures trading:

In premarket trading on Monday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY declined 0.96% to $398.47 and the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ moved down 1.16% to $283.59, according to Benzinga Pro data.

On the economic front, the Dallas Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its manufacturing business index for November at 10:30 a.m. EST. The index was at -19.4 in October.

The Treasury Department will auction three-month and six-month bills at 11:30 a.m. EST.

Federal Open Market Committee member and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is scheduled to speak at 12 p.m. EST. Around the same time, New York Fed President John Williams is also expected to make a public appearance.

Stocks In Focus:

• Oil field services company Schlumberger Limited SLB, oil stocks Occidental Petroleum Corp. OXY, Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, Petrobras Brasileiro S.A. PBR and Chevron Corp. CVX declined sharply in premarket trading, dragged by a plunge in oil prices.
• Tesla, Inc. TSLA fell over 2.5%, reversing course after the previous week’s gains.
• Apple, Inc. AAPL retreated about 1.80% in reaction to the reports that the disruptions at Hon Hai Precision Manufacturing Company Limited’s HNHPF Zhengzhou plant will likely lead to a shortfall of about 6 million iPhone Pro units.
• Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA and JD.com, Inc. JD were retreating in reaction to the protests in China over the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. On the other hand, smaller peer Pinduoduo, Inc. PDD advanced over 2.50% ahead of its quarterly results.
• Anheuser-Busch-InBev SA BUD gained about 4% after a Financial Times report said the company is unlikely to be impacted by Qatar’s liquor ban in the stadiums.

Commodities, Other Global Markets:

Crude oil futures were declining for a second straight session, and on account of the weakness, the WTI-grade crude oil tumbled over 2.5% to nearly a one-year low of $74.11. Selling in the commodity is attributable to the China travails that are expected to dent demand.

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region wilted Monday in reaction to the skirmish in China over the COVID-19 restrictions. The retreat was led by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which was down 1.57% at the close. The Indian market bucked the downtrend with a moderate gain, while the Malaysian market remained closed on account of a public holiday.

European stocks opened Monday’s session lower and fell further in early trading in reaction to the geopolitical tensions arising from the situation in China.

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