US STOCKS-Futures fall as Hong Kong bill escalates U.S.-China tensions

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* Futures off: Dow 0.32%, S&P 0.26%, Nasdaq 0.37%

By Arjun Panchadar
Nov 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on
Wednesday as escalating political tensions between Washington
and Beijing sparked fears that the two sides would fail to reach
a trade agreement soon.
Beijing on Wednesday condemned U.S. legislation aimed at
protecting human rights in Hong Kong amid prolonged
anti-government protests, adding to jitters from a threat by
President Donald Trump to raise tariffs on Chinese imports if a
trade deal was not finalized. Trade-exposed technology stocks and industrials such as
Intel Corp INTC.O , Micron Technology Inc MU.O , Caterpillar
Inc CAT.N and Apple Inc AAPL.O fell between 0.3% and 0.7%
premarket. Most U.S.-listed Chinese stocks also dipped.
The world's top two economies came tantalizingly close to a
deal in May after a year of tariffs on each other's goods,
before talks fell apart. Hopes had since risen that Washington and Beijing would
strike at least a partial deal, with Wall Street's main indexes
scaling record highs this month.
The benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow Jones retreated
slightly at the close on Tuesday as dour forecasts by retailers
Home Depot Inc HD.N and Kohl's Corp KSS.N raised concerns
about the strength of U.S. consumer spending.
However, on Wednesday, strong results by retailers Lowe's
Cos Inc LOW.N and Target Corp TGT.N sent their shares up
4.1% and 9.6%, respectively, adding to a fairly strong
third-quarter earnings season and assuaging investor nerves
about the impact of the trade war. Latest data has pointed to a resilient U.S. economy, but
recession fears are creeping back, with the gap between 2-year
and 10-year Treasury yields at its narrowest in more than two
weeks.
Focus now turns to minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest
policy meeting for clues to its stance on monetary policy. The
central bank cut interest rates for the third time this year in
October, but signaled it may be done with rate easing for now.
At 7:44 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 89 points,
or 0.32%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 8.25 points, or
0.26% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 30.75 points, or
0.37%.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co BMY.N fell about 1% after a
late-stage trial testing a combination of its cancer drugs
missed a main goal of preventing skin cancer from recurring in a
certain group of patients. Apparel retailer Urban Outfitters Inc URBN.O dropped 15.7%
after reporting lower-than-expected quarterly sales, hit by
weaker demand for its namesake brand.