The U.S. index futures point to a higher opening by Wall Street stocks on Friday, as traders look to close out a see-sawing trading week on an upbeat note.
The major averages extended their losses on Thursday, as traders digested hawkish Fed commentaries and economic data that pointed to more weakness. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard suggested in a presentation that the terminal fed funds rate could hit 7%, well above what the market has currently priced in.
Data on the housing market, jobless claims and manufacturing activity signaled a weakening economic outlook.
The Dow Industrials ended little changed, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 Index recorded moderate losses.
Most sector stocks moved to the downside, with consumer discretionary, utility and material stocks coming in for particular punishment.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq Composite | -0.35% | 11,144.96 | |
| S&P 500 Index | -0.31% | 3,946.56 | |
| Dow Industrials | -0.02% | 33,546.42 |
Here’s a peek into index futures trading:
| Index | Performance (+/-) | |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq 100 Futures | +0.69% | |
| S&P 500 Futures | +0.56% | |
| Dow Futures | +0.38% | |
| R2K Futures | +0.80% |
In premarket trading on Friday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 0.28% to $395.35, while the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ gained 0.39% to $285.93, according to Benzinga Pro data.
On the economic front, Boston Fed President Susan Collins is scheduled to make a public appearance at 8:40 a.m. EST.
The Commerce Department will release its existing home sales report for October at 8:30 a.m. EST. Economists look for the metric to come in at 4.390 million, lower than the previous month’s 4.710 million.
Around the same time, the Conference Board is scheduled to release its U.S. leading index for October. The consensus expectation is for a 0.4% month-over-month decline in the index, the same pace of drop as in the previous month.
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Stocks In Focus:
- Shares of off-price retailer Ross Stores Inc. ROST rose over 16% in premarket trading, following a third-quarter beat.
- Department store Gap Inc. GPS gained over 7%, following the release of its quarterly results.
- Fintech company StoneCo. STNE advanced over 18% in reaction to its third-quarter results.
- Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks Inc. PANW rose close to 8% after it reported better-than-expected first-quarter results.
- Williams-Sonoma Inc. WSM, an omnichannel retailer of home products, retreated over 7% on earnings.
- Nvidia Corp. NVDA was finding follow-through buying and peer Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD gained close to 1%.
- Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA fell over 3%, giving back some of Thursday’s post-earnings gains.
- Chip equipment maker Applied Materials Inc. AMAT climbed close to 4% following its quarterly results.
- JD.com Inc. JD, Foot Locker Inc. FL and Buckle Inc. BKE are among the notable companies reporting their quarterly results ahead of the market open.
Commodities, Other Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures are rebounding from a two-session loss on Friday. A barrel of WTI-grade crude oil was fetching a little over $82-a-barrel.
Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region closed mixed on Friday as traders in the region reacted to the lackluster lead from Wall Street overnight and the lingering China COVID-19 concerns. The Chinese, Hong Kong, Indian and Taiwanese markets declined, while the Australian, New Zealand, Indonesian and South Korean markets advanced.
The European markets were advancing solidly in late morning trading on Friday.
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