At around 04:00 a.m. ET, Dow futures slipped 151 points, indicating a negative open of more than 121 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were both seen slightly lower.

· European shares slipped on Wednesday, as Chinese newspapers warned Beijing was ready to use its supply of rare metals in an increasingly bitter trade dispute with the United States, sending investors scurrying for perceived safe havens globally.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index sank 0.9% by 0712 GMT with Frankfurt’s DAX, typically sensitive to trade headlines, and Paris’s CAC shedding 1% and 1.2%, each.

Slowing growth concerns, stemming from a fears of a protracted trade war, have put the pan-regional index on track for its first monthly fall this year.

· Asian shares fell on Wednesday and bonds rallied as investor sentiment soured over growing worries about world growth with trade tensions between the United States and China showing no signs of easing.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.5% after three straight days of gains. Chinese shares started on the back foot but bounced off early losses to be marginally higher. Australian shares ended 0.7% lower while Japan’s Nikkei faltered 1.2%.

In an indication U.S. markets will fall again on Wednesday, E-Minis for the S&P 500 stumbled 0.3%. In early European trading, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.7% as were German DAX futures while those for London’s FTSE and France’s CAC 40 eased 0.6% each.

Italy’s dispute with the European Commission over its budget is also a major overhang for world markets.

In Asia, focus remains on the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Washington was not prepared to make a deal with China yet. In response, Chinese newspapers warned on Wednesday Beijing is ready to use rare earths to strike back at the United States.

· Chinese blue-chip shares ended lower on Wednesday amid investor concerns over a slowing economy and Beijing’s trade dispute with Washington while foreign investors sold shares, but bargain hunting lifted insurance firms and the benchmark Shanghai index.

The blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.23%, with its financial sector sub-index closing flat, the real estate index down 1.55%, while the healthcare sub-index closed 0.89% weaker.

However, the Shanghai Composite index rebounded from earlier losses to end 0.16% firmer at 2,914.70.