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U.S. stock-index futures on Friday were trading slightly higher ahead of a data on June retail sales, after a week featuring assurances by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that surging inflation was a temporary phenomenon.
How are stock benchmarks trading?
-
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
YMU21,
+0.11%
YM00,
+0.11%
were 49 points, or 0.1%, higher at 34,911. -
S&P 500 index futures
ES00,
+0.16%
were up 7.75 points at 4,359.50, a gain of 0.2%. -
Nasdaq-100 futures
NQU21,
+0.19%
NQ00,
+0.19%
were trading 34.50 points, or 0.2%, at 14,821.50.
On Thursday, the Dow
DJIA,
rose 53.79 points or 0.15% today to 34,987.02, the S&P 500
SPX,
fell 14.27 points, or 0.33%, to 4,360.03, while the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
closed 101.82 points lower, or 0.70%, at 14,543.13.
For the week, the Dow is currently up 0.3%, marking its fourth straight gain; the S&P 500 is headed for a weekly decline of 0.2%, while the Nasdaq is looking at a weekly decline of 1.1%, the first such decline in four weeks for both indexes. The small-capitalization Russell 2000 index
RUT,
was on track for a 4% drop for the week, which would mark its third straight loss.
What’s driving the market?
U.S. stock indexes are heading mostly toward small losses for the week after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that inflation would rise for a few months before slowing.
Investors have been digesting what has been mostly upbeat second-quarter corporate earnings results but the data has been mixed.
June retail sales data are due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time Friday, which could provide further insights about the economy’s rebound from COVID-19. Sales are expected to fall 0.4% in June compared to a fall of 1.3% in May. Excluding autos sales are seen up 0.4% after a fall of 0.7% in May.
The spread of the more transmissible delta coronavirus variant has fuelled jitters on Wall Street but the path of least resistance continues to be higher for stocks and lower for Treasury yields, with the 10-year benchmark
TMUBMUSD10Y,
briefly slipping below 1.30% on Thursday. The slide in yields suggests that fixed-income investors harbor some doubts about economic growth in the wake of the pandemic or also share Powell’s view that inflation will be short-lived.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday will join Pacific Rim leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in a virtual meeting to develop strategies to help economies rebound from the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic.
And in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged rapid help for disastrous flooding that has killed more than 90 and left hundreds missing in the western part of the country, as persistent rains have left rivers and reservoirs overflowing.
Which companies are in focus?
-
U.S.-listed Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Global
DIDI,
-2.06%
tumbled in premarket trade after state security and police officials were sent to the company’s offices Friday as part of a cybersecurity investigation, CNBC reported. -
Intel
INTC,
-1.26%
was in focus after The Wall Street Journal reported that the semiconductor giant was exploring a deal to acquire chip maker GlobalFoundries for around $30 billion. -
Moderna Inc.
MRNA,
+5.28% ,
a biotechnology company catapulted to fame after it produced a highly effective COVID-19 vaccine, is set to join the S&P 500 index, replacing Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
ALXN,
-3.27%
