Nike, Facebook set to weigh on Wall Street as trade worries linger

FE Team | Published: September 04, 2018 23:23:15

US stocks were set to open lower on Tuesday, as declines in heavyweights such as Nike and Facebook added to worries over trade negotiations between United States and other major economies, following the Labor Day weekend, reports Reuters.
Nike dropped 3.1 per cent in premarket trading as calls for a boycott of the sportswear giant gained traction on social media after it chose Colin Kaepernick as a face for adverts marking the 30th anniversary of its "Just Do It" slogan.
Facebook (FB.O) fell 1.4 per cent after brokerage MoffettNathanson downgraded the social media giant to "neutral" from "buy" citing revenue growth deceleration.
A fresh round of U.S tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods are expected to take effect after a public comment period ends on September 5.
US President Donald Trump has told his aides he is ready to impose the tariffs as soon as the public comment period ends, according to a Bloomberg report last week.
Talks between Canada and the United States to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ended on a sour note on Friday, but officials set plans to resume their talks on Wednesday.
Despite the looming tariff threats and trade uncertainties, the major US indexes closed higher in August, with the Nasdaq posting its largest monthly gain since January.
"This has more to do with the fact that the markets have had a strong run in the past two to three weeks and it is normal for people to take a little bit of profits off the table," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist and senior portfolio manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
The dollar .DXY rose nearly half a per cent against a basket of major currencies as trade concerns escalated.
Shares of trade-sensitive Caterpillar and Boeing slipped 0.6 per cent.
Verizon fell 1.23 per cent after a Barclays downgrade to "equal weight".