Futures tumble on last day of a torrid first-half on growth fears

© Reuters. A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 22, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Shreyashi Sanyal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slid on Thursday on the last day of a dismal first-half of the year on worries that central banks determined to tame inflation will hamper global economic growth.

Investors are also awaiting a reading on the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure due at 8.30 a.m. ET to see if the surge in prices have peaked.

A Commerce Department report is expected to show core personal consumption expenditure price index, excluding the volatile food and energy components, likely rose 0.4% in May, compared to a 0.3% rise in the previous month.

Markets have been torn between growth and inflation worries, with central bank chiefs across the world prioritizing on steps to lower a well-entrenched inflation at all costs.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has vowed to not let the U.S. economy slip into a "higher inflation regime", even if it means raising interest rates to levels that put growth at risk.

The S&P 500 index was on track to end the first half of the year with the biggest percentage drop since 1970, while the Nasdaq Composite was set for its largest declines ever during the same period.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was set for its biggest January-June percentage drop since the financial crisis, and all the three main indexes are bound to post their second consecutive quarterly declines, for the first time since 2015.

Fed policymakers in recent days have set expectations for their second consecutive 75 basis point interest rate hike in July even as economic data painted a dour picture of the American consumer.

Large-cap growth stocks including Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc fell between 1.7% and 2.4% in premarket trading, leading declines on the day.

At 6:08 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 317 points, or 1.02%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 49.75 points, or 1.3%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 195.25 points, or 1.67%.