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U.S. stock futures were struggling for direction on Friday, as investors balanced their concerns over the continuing war in Ukraine, with the economy back home, a day after a positive report on jobless claims.
Oil prices were also moving lower as the U.S. and the EU announced a new partnership over liquefied natural gas.
How are stock-index futures trading?
-
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
+0.12%
were flat at 4,513.50 -
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
+0.10%
were largely unchanged at 34,621 -
Nasdaq-100 futures
NQ00,
+0.10%
slipped less than a percentage point at 14,762
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
rose 349.44 points, or 1%, ending at 34,707.94. The S&P 500 gained 1.4% to close at 4,520.16, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
climbed 1.9%, finishing at 14,191.84.
What’s driving markets?
The S&P 500 was poised for a weekly gain of just over 1%, while the Nasdaq was looking at a bigger gain of 2%, and the Dow was set to fall modestly. But those gains have come against a backdrop of the war in Ukraine that has been raging for more than a month.
President Joe Biden and European officials, who have been meeting this week, on Friday announced new plans to boost shipments U.S. natural gas to Europe, in a bid to ease the continent’s dependence on Russian energy products. On the energy front, oil prices
CL00,
CLK22,
fell 1% on Friday to $111.19 a barrel, while Brent crude
BRN00,
BRNK22,
was down a similar percentage to $114.16 a barrel.
The Biden administration announced fresh sanctions against Russia on Thursday, with the president suggesting that President Vladimir Putin’s country should be kicked out of the G-20.
“There has not been much positive news to report, and yet the S&P 500 has rallied back 6% [from its all-time highs], led by the highest beta and most speculative parts of the market. I’m not sure what that tells you other than your typical active investors are probably sidelined,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, in a note to clients.
In addition to the backdrop of war that has exacerbated an energy crisis, investors also are weighing slowing China growth and a Federal Reserve determined to stamp out inflation.
“China internet and meme stock baskets are both up 20 %, while profitless tech baskets are up nearly 15 % and 30 % off the lows last week. And when Bitcoin is the best performing macro asset, you know Twitter is in control,” he said.
Data for Friday includes the University of Michigan’s gauge of consumer sentiment for March and pending home sales for February, both due at 10 a.m. Also investors will hear from New York Fed President John Williams, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin and Fed Gov. Christopher Waller.
Elsewhere, the European Council and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a Digital Markets Act, aimed at tech giants such as Google parent Alphabet
GOOGL,
Apple
AAPL,
and Facebook parent Meta Platforms
FB,
What companies are in focus?
-
Alibaba Group Holding
BABA,
-1.78%
shares dropped 4% in premarket trading, following a 6% fall in Hong Kong. JD.com Inc.
JD,
-4.31%
shares fell nearly 5% after the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said it was premature to say it was close to an agreement with China on allowing audit inspections of U.S.-listed Chinese companies. -
NIO Inc.
NIO,
+0.50%
shares dropped 5% after the Chinese electric vehicle maker posted better-than-forecast revenue in the fourth quarter, but disappointed with its deliveries forecast.
