By Yashaswini Swamynathan
(Reuters) – Wall Street was set to open lower for the first time in five days as investors sought shelter in safe-haven assets amid a drop in oil prices and global growth worries.
U.S. government bond yields were at an all-time low as weak data from China added fuel to the uncertainty stemming from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
Oil prices fell nearly 3 percent as a potential economic slowdown weighed on prospects of demand.
Shares of oil and gas companies including Exxon, Marathon Oil and Freeport  fell in premarket trading on Tuesday.
Data from China showed that the country’s services sector activity rose to an 11-month high in June, but a composite measure of activity including manufacturing fell to its lowest in four months.
“We have some profit-taking from last week’s rally, but it won’t be anything substantial. As long as yields crumble, they will act as a cushion for the stock market,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
The S& and the Dow clocked their highest weekly gains for the year last week, recovering from a two-day selloff that robbed global markets off $3 trillion.
The Bank of England said the outlook for UK’s financial stability post-Brexit was “challenging” and said it would lower the amount of capital that banks were required to hold in reserve in order to allow them to keep lending.
Dow e-minis were down 109 points, or 0.61 percent at 8:13 a.m. ET.
S& 500 e-minis were down 14.25 points, or 0.68 percent, with 361,295 contracts traded.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 29.75 points, or 0.67 percent, on volume of 39,784 contracts.
Wall Street closed down higher on Friday as investor sentiment was buoyed by strong manufacturing data.
The Commerce Department will release a report on Tuesday that is expected to show that new orders for manufacturing goods fell by 1 percent in May, compared to 1.9 percent in April. The data is expected at 10:00 a.m. ET.
While traders do not expect the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank to raise interest rates this year, they will keenly watch policymakers’ comments on what the Fed’s next step would be.
New York Fed President William Dudley is scheduled to participate in a discussion in Binghamton, New York at 2:30 p.m. ET (1830 GMT).
The Fed’s next policy meeting is on July 26-27.
Tesla’s shares fell 4.3 percent to $207.45 after the electric car maker missed vehicle deliveries target for the second consecutive quarter.
Diagnostic test maker Illumina fell 3.3 percent to $136.07 after Morgan Stanley cut its rating to “underweight”. The stock was the biggest percentage loser among S& components.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)