Gloomy China Data Weigh on Stock Futures

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A report showing China's vast manufacturing sector weakened in late April knocked U.S. stock-index futures solidly into the red.

Today's Markets

As 7:45 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 62 points, or 0.38%, to 16386, S&P 500 futures dipped 7.3 points, or 0.39%, to 1867 and Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 15.3 points, or 0.43%, to 3564.

China's manufacturing sector is sputtering. HSBC's purchasing-managers index was revised down to 48.1 in late April from a flash estimate of 48.3, confounding economists who expected an increase to 48.4. The measure indicates the factory sector in the world's No. 2 economy contracted for the fourth month in a row.

"Over the past few days, Beijing has introduced more reform measures which could support growth by inducing more private sector investment," Hongbin Qu, HSBC's chief economist for China wrote in the report. "We think bolder actions will be required to ensure the economy regains its momentum."

On the U.S. front, Wall Street will get a look at how the services sector fared in April at 10:00 a.m. ET. Economists expect the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing PMI to have fallen to 54.1 from 53.1 the month prior.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) posted bottom-line results that topped estimates, but disappointing sales. The American biotech behemoth is currently looking to buy AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) for at least $106 billion.

Elsewhere, U.S. crude oil futures rose 8 cents, or 0.09%, to $99.85 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline dipped 0.56% $2.928 a gallon. Gold advanced $8.90, or 0.68%, to $1,312 a troy ounce.