MARKET SNAPSHOT: Tech Stocks Set To Slump Again, As Nasdaq-100 Futures Drop

Apple trades lower premarket after another downgrade

U.S. stock futures pointed to a drop at the open, with the technology sector on track for a tumble for a second straight session.

Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 Index fell by 45 points, or 0.8%, to 5,704. S&P 500 futures gave up 4.30 points, or 0.2%, to 2,424, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures shed 31 points, or 0.1%, to 21,178.

"All eyes will be on the U.S. tech giants when the U.S. stock markets open," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at City Index, in a note.

"A second session of hefty losses for the Nasdaq and U.S. tech sector (XLK) could spook the markets this week, so if we don't get a recovery then we may see a broader decline in growth assets," she added.

On Friday, the S&P closed down by 0.1% and the Dow gained 0.4%, but the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.8%, with its sharp pullback (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nasdaq-is-threatening-to-log-its-biggest-blown-lead-in-212-months-as-tech-unravels-2017-06-09) coming after big recent gains for heavyweight tech stocks. The selloff (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-tipped-for-more-gains-as-investors-weigh-up-uk-election-results-2017-06-09) also followed a warning from Goldman Sachs analysts that highfliers such as Facebook Inc.(FB) , Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN) , Apple Inc.(AAPL) , Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) and Google parent Alphabet Inc.(GOOGL) (GOOGL) may be overextended.

Read:'The crowd is always wrong?' If you believe Jack Bogle, here's where to invest (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-crowd-is-always-wrong-if-you-believe-jack-bogle-heres-where-you-should-invest-2017-06-12)

And see:Sell for the summer as the market's next 5% move is down, Deutsche Bank says (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sell-for-the-summer-as-the-stock-markets-next-5-move-is-down-deutsche-bank-says-2017-06-12)

Economic news: May data on the U.S. federal budget is due at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

As the week kicks off, investors are also focused on the Federal Reserve (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/all-eyes-on-tech-sector-ahead-of-expected-fed-interest-rate-hike-2017-06-10), which on Wednesday is widely anticipated to deliver an interest-rate hike.

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Individual movers: Shares in Apple traded 2% lower in premarket action following a downgrade to neutral from buy by Mizuho Securities analysts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-downgraded-by-mizuho-the-second-ratings-cut-in-a-week-2017-06-12).

It's the second time in a week that the gadgets giant has been downgraded, with the more bearish view once again stemming from concerns that optimism over the iPhone 8 has been baked into the stock.

Chip gear maker Applied Materials Inc.(AMAT), streaming giant Netflix Inc.(NFLX) and chip maker Nvidia Corp.(NVDA) were also among the S&P 500's biggest premarket losers. They were trading lower by 1.7%, 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively.

On the upside, General Electric Co.'s shares (GE) rose 3.6% in premarket action following news that CEO Jeff Immelt is retiring (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ges-jeff-immelt-to-step-down-as-ceo-and-chairman-2017-06-12-6914026) and will be replaced by John Flannery, currently president and CEO of GE Healthcare.

Other markets:European equities (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-pushed-down-by-tech-selloff-british-governments-woes-2017-06-12) pulled back, and Asian markets closed with losses (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-slip-as-tech-stock-selloff-spreads-2017-06-11), as the tech selloff spread to exchanges there. Oil futures traded higher, while gold futures and a key dollar index were little lower. Treasury yields inched higher, with the 10-year yield up 2 basis points at 2.22%.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 12, 2017 09:09 ET (13:09 GMT)