Dow will fall 100 points outside while business concerns, fears of Italy weigh

BRYAN R. SMITH | AFP | Getty Images

Traders are working on closing the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the New York Stock Exchange on December 20, 2017 in New York.

The United States and Canada have not yet reached a trade agreement by September 30. Both countries are trying to agree that Canada could join a trade agreement between the United States and Mexico, which would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was severely criticized by President Donald Trump.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Tuesday that the United States is ready to move forward on a new NAFTA agreement without Canada.

Trump, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that he was "very unhappy" with Canada's bargaining tactics, noting: "We do not like their representative [Chrystia Freeland] a lot."

Trade has been an overflow for US stocks for most of 2018 as investors try to gauge the impact of protectionist policies on the global economy and corporate profits.

Equity futures were also under pressure as European stocks fell after the Italian government set a budget deficit target three times higher than the previous government's target. The Stoxx 600 index – which follows a broad band of European stocks – fell 0.7%, while the Italian FTSE MIB index fell by almost 4%. The German Dax also fell by 1.4% and the French CAC 40 by 0.8%.

On the data side, personal income, consumer spending and core PCE data are expected at 8:30, followed by Chicago purchasing managers' indices at 9:45 and consumer confidence at 10:00.

In corporate news, Blackberry and Vail Resorts are expected to release their results.

Meanwhile, investors will closely monitor Tesla, after news has been released that its chief executive, Elon Musk, has been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud, according to court documents filed Thursday. While sources close to the company told CNBC that the company also expected to be sued, Tesla was not named as a defendant in the complaint. In the pre-market market, Tesla shares fell by more than 12% and Musk called the SEC's fraud allegations "unjustified".