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U.S. stock futures turned lower Friday, in what’s been a difficult week in markets.
What’s happening
-
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
-0.21%
fell 68 points, or 0.2%, to 34780. -
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
-0.22%
fell 9 points, or 0.2%, to 4448. -
Nasdaq 100 futures
NQ00,
-0.28%
dropped 0.2%, or 25 points, to 15452.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
rose 58 points, or 0.17%, to 34501, while the S&P 500
SPX
declined 14 points, or 0.32%, to 4451, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP
dropped 124 points, or 0.89%, to 13749.
The S&P 500 closed lower for a third consecutive session, a time period in which the key index has declined 1.4%. It’s gained nearly 16% this year.
What’s driving markets
Several Federal Reserve officials on Thursday made it clear there’s unlikely to be a rate hike in September, though some, like Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan after the market close, suggested further increases may need to come later.
A surprise decline in weekly jobless claims to mid-February levels, a day after a surprisingly strong reading of a services sentiment gauge, has unsettled investors hoping for a gradual deceleration in the U.S. economy to stomp out inflation.
“In recent conversations with institutional investors, it is clear to us that investors are incrementally nervous. Foremost is their concern that economic momentum has been improving at a pace that might warrant the Fed to have to increase the path of hikes,” said Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat.
Two days of losses for Apple’s
AAPL,
stock, on concerns over Chinese government restrictions to iPhone use, also proved to be a headwind. “When a tech giant like Apple, with a market cap of nearly $2.8 trillion sneezes, the whole market catches a cold,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
There aren’t any major economic or corporate releases set for Friday, with the highlight being a speech from San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly at 11 a.m. Eastern. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr is speaking at 9 a.m. at a payments conference, and the quarterly financial accounts of the U.S. will be released at noon.
The crucial consumer price index for August will be released on Wednesday.
