Stock Future Drop As China's Post-holiday Gains Disappoint

U.S. stock futures fell in early trading on Thursday, reflecting some disappointment in the performance of equities in China, where trading resumed after a multi-day holiday break. Futures for the Dow industrials fell 107 points, or 0.6%, to 16,707, while those for the S&P 500 slipped 12.95 points, or 0.7%, to 1,974. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 dropped 30.5 points, or 0.7%, to 4,293.25. Those losses come on the heels of a higher close for U.S. stocks on Wednesday, driven by gains for health-care stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index was last up 3.3% to 3,165.74. But those gains paled in comparison to gains for the Hong Kong Hang Seng index over the last several days as China markets have been closed, noted Angus Nicholson, market analyst at IG. "Given the HSCEI rallied 11.5% in that time, for mainland shares only to rise 3%-4% since their last close is pretty disappointing," he said in an emailed response to a question.