DJIA futures down 82 points (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 19 Jul - US futures were little changed following yesterday's slide as global computer system outages disrupting businesses round the world took centre stage.

The outages, caused by an update patch from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, sparked systems blackouts across a range of users and businesses operating Microsoft systems.

The issue threatened to worsen the recent run on technology stocks as shares in CrowdStrike and Microsoft fell sharply before retracing some of the losses. CrowdStrike was down 10% in premarket trade while Microsoft was down 0.7%.

Wall Street closed lower yesterday as the pullback in the tech sector continued with the Nasdaq down 0.7% and the S&P 500 down 0.8%. After setting a record high the previous session, the Dow also fell foul of the selling spree, shedding 1.3%.

On a quiet day for data, investors today will be monitoring the latest round of earnings from the likes of American Express, Travelers, Comerica and Fifth Third.

They will also be keeping a close eye on political developments as expectations rise that President Joe Biden will accept he may have to leave the race for the Whitehouse in November.

Futures on the Dow Jones were down 82.00 points, or 0.20%, S&P 500 futures were up 4.25 points, or 0.08%, while futures on the Nasdaq were 24.50 points, or 0.12%, higher.

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(RADIOCOR) 19-07-24 14:18:58 (0333) 5 NNNN