Wall Street set to open lower as China adds to uncertainty

By Tanya Agrawal

REUTERS - Wall Street was set to open lower on Thursday, with index futures wiping out earlier gains as more uncertain news emerged out of China.

Data showed that producer prices in China fell for the 42nd straight month and car sales dropped, in the most recent sign that deflation remains a significant risk for the world's No. 2 economy.

Global financial markets have been rattled in recent weeks by fears that China's slowdown could be a drag on sluggish global growth, prompting some investors to bet that the U.S. central bank will delay a rate hike until the end of the year.

"What is China going to do? That is the biggest unknown for people at the moment," said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.

S&P 500 e-minis were down 12.75 points, or 0.66 percent, with 474,702 contracts traded at 8:37 a.m. ET (1237 GMT). Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 24.5 points, or 0.58 percent, on volume of 61,636 contracts. Dow e-minis were down 109 points, or 0.67 percent, with 57,059 contracts changing hands.

Apple shares were down 0.3 percent at $109.85 premarket after closing down about 2 percent the previous day when its new offerings underwhelmed investors.

Apple and a fall in oil dragged down Wall Street by more than 1 percent on Wednesday.

Investors will continue to keep an eye on U.S. data for clues on the Fed's next course of action when it meets on Sept. 16-17.

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting a moderation in job growth in August was an aberration. Initial claims fell by 6,000 to 275,000.

Data scheduled to be released on Thursday includes wholesale inventories data for July at 10 a.m. ET, which is expected to have increased 0.3 percent, compared with a 0.9 percent rise in June.

Palo Alto Networks was up 5 percent at $173.39 after the cyber security company reported its strongest revenue growth in 10 quarters and forecast better-than-expected growth in the current quarter.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts fell 16.4 percent to $14.83, a day after the doughnut chain cut its 2016 profit forecast.

Lululemon Athletica was down 7.3 percent at $59.32 after the yogawear retailer's gross margins continue to be under pressure as it spends more on product development and sourcing.

(Editing by Don Sebastian)