Global stocks are falling again

Global stocks are under pressure once again and US futures look set to extend losses from Tuesday.

Near 7:13 a.m. ET, Dow futures were off 97 points, S&P 500 futures were down 13 points, and Nasdaq futures were down 31 points - all by less than 1%.

We got two big markets news events yesterday: a déjÀ vu of China concerns after weak manufacturing data, and the Reserve Bank of Australia's unexpected rate cut.

There's a bunch of US economic data ahead of us on Wednesday, which are expected to show that things are looking better on this side of the world.

At 8:15 a.m. ET, the ADP employment report will be released ahead of Friday's jobs report, followed by the trade balance at 8:30.

And then, service-sector reports from Markit and ISM will cross at 9:45 and 10 a.m. respectively. Factory orders and durable goods orders are also due at 10.

Mike van Dulken at Accendo Markets summed up the global equity situation in a note: "Equity markets in the red again this morning with the FTSE underperforming on account of its exposure to weak raw-materials prices and renewed global growth woes from China data, sector data showing the incumbent supermarkets losing more market share and some poorly received earnings reports from several heavyweights."

In trading on Wednesday, the FTSE was fell 1.2%, the Euro Stoxx 50 was down 1%, while Japan's Nikkei slumped 3%.

On Tuesday, the Dow closed down 140 points, or 0.78%.