U.S. futures lower as fiscal cliff fears mount; Dow down 0.1%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wednesday, as a lack of progress in negotiations for a deal to avoid a U.S. budget crisis before a January deadline weighed on appetite for riskier assets.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a loss of 0.1%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.25% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.2% drop.

Markets participants continued to monitor developments surrounding the looming “fiscal cliff” in the U.S., approximately USD600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1.

Corporate leaders including Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein will meet with President Barack Obama later Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

House Speaker John Boehner plans to meet separately today with Blankfein and other U.S. business leaders.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spooked investors Tuesday after saying that there had been “little progress” made toward reaching a deal by the end of the year.

There are fears the U.S. economy will fall back into a recession, unless a divided Congress and the White House can work out a compromise in the five weeks left before the January 1 deadline.

Doubts over the Greek debt deal also weighed on sentiment. Greece’s constitutional lenders reached an agreement Tuesday to reduce Greece’s debt-reduction target by EUR40 billion to 124% of gross domestic product by 2020.

But the lack of detail on how Greece will implement reforms needed to meet its new debt targets dented investor confidence.

In earnings news, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters saw shares surge 24% in pre-market trade after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings results for its fiscal fourth quarter ended September 29.

The company also raised its full-year earnings outlook.

Wholesale retailer Costco jumped 4.6% after saying it plans to pay shareholders USD3 billion as a special dividend.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on new home sales, as well as government data on crude oil inventories. In addition, the Federal Reserve was to publish its Beige Book.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower, as traders remained fixated on concerns over Greece’s debt woes and the fiscal outlook in the U.S.

The EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.3%, Germany's DAX declined 0.2%, while Britain's FTSE 100 eased down 0.25%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.6%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 1.2%.