U.S. Stocks May Lack Direction As Traders React To Widespread Tech Outage

Following recent tech-driven weakness, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by less than a tenth of a percent.

A lack of major U.S. economic data may keep some traders on the sidelines as they digest the notable declines by the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 over the two previous sessions.

Traders are also reacting to news of a major IT outage purportedly caused by an update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike (CRWD), which is plunging by 12.9 percent in pre-market trading.

The operations of major banks, media outlets, hospitals and airlines worldwide were affected due to the widespread outage.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) are down by 1.3 percent in pre-market trading as many of the software giant’s users have also been impacted by the issue.

Stocks showed a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday before coming under considerable selling pressure over the course of the session. With the downward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 added to the steep losses posted in Wednesday’s session.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow tumbled 533.06 points or 1.3 percent to 40,665.02, the Nasdaq fell 125.70 points or 0.7 percent to 17,871.22 and the S&P 500 slid 43.68 points or 0.8 percent to 5,544.59.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled by 2.0 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.6 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.5 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are dipping $0.20 to $82.62 a barrel after edging down $0.03 to $82.82 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after slipping $3.50 to $2,456.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are plunging $50.30 to $2,406.10 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.57 yen versus the 157.37 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0886 compared to yesterday’s $1.0897.