MARKET SNAPSHOT: Tech Stocks Set To Slump Again, As Nasdaq-100 Futures Drop 1%

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 56 points, or 1%, to 5,692.25. S&P 500 futures gave up 6.30 points, or 0.3%, to 2,422, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures shed 38 points, or 0.2%, to 21,169.

"All eyes will be on the U.S. tech giants when the U.S. stock markets open later today," 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 edged down by 0.1% and the Dow gained 0.4%, but the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.8%, with its sharp pullback 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.

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 nearly 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.

Tech names Nvidia Corp.(NVDA) and Applied Materials Inc.(AMAT) were also among the S&P 500's biggest premarket losers, with each stock down by more than 2%.

Other markets: Oil futures were modestly higher, while European equities pulled back. 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 those exchanges. Gold futures were lower, and a key dollar index also was down.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 12, 2017 04:43 ET (08:43 GMT)