Futures slip as China data sparks growth fears

　　div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpReuters – U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday as downbeat data out of China stoked fresh concerns about a global economic slowdown at a time when investors are already on edge over aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.p

　　pChinese and European stock markets fell, while oil slid as data showed Chinas economic activity cooled sharply in April as widening COVID19 lockdowns took a heavy toll on consumption, industrial production and employment. pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

　　pWall Street closed sharply higher on Friday, but still the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their longest weekly losing streaks in over a decade.p

　　pInvestors have been worried that aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to combat decadeshigh inflation could hurt the U.S, economy, with the conflict in Ukraine, supply chain snarls and the latest pandemicrelated lockdowns in China further exacerbating the situation.p

　　pGoldman Sachs economists cut their forecast for U.S. GDP growth to 2.4 in 2022 from 2.6 previously, citing tighter financial conditions.p

　　pThe S&P 500 and the techheavy Nasdaq have fallen 15.6 and 24.5, respectively, so far this year, with growth stocks taking a sharp hit on concerns that bigger interest rate hikes could hurt their future cash flows.p

　　pTraders are now pricing a near 82 chance of a 50 basis point hike by the Fed in June. [IRPR]p

　　pBarring Tesla Inc, other megacap growth companies such as Microsoft Corp, Google ownerAlphabet Inc, Amazon.com, Apple Inc and Meta Platforms slipped about 0.3 in premarket trading.p

　　pBig banks were mixed, with Bank of America down 0.2.p

　　pAt 07:21 a.m. ET, Dow eminis were down 28 points, or 0.09, S&P 500 eminis were down 11 points, or 0.27, and Nasdaq 100 eminis were down 51.75 points, or 0.42.p

　　pAfter worrying inflation and consumer sentiment data last week, focus is now on the retail sales report due on Tuesday.p

　　pRetailers such as Walmart Inc, Home Depot and Target Corp are also due to report their quarterly results this week.p

　　pSpirit Airlines jumped 17.1 after JetBlue Airways launched a hostile allcash takeover bid for the discount carrier. JetBlue shares slipped 1.p

　　p

　　pp Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Devik Jain in Bengaluru Editing by Shounak Dasguptap

　　divdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivdivdiv