After ending the previous session modestly lower, 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.
The futures remained little changed after the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly unchanged in September.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand came in flat in September after rising by 0.2 percent in August. Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.
The report also said the annual rate of growth by producer prices slowed to 1.8 percent in September from an upwardly revised 1.9 percent in August.
Economists had expected the annual rate of producer price growth to dip to 1.6 percent from the 1.7 percent originally reported for the previous month.
Traders are also digesting earnings news from big-name banks, with shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after the company reported better than expected third quarter earnings.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) may also move to the upside after reporting third quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Shortly after the start of trading, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its preliminary reading on consumer sentiment in the month of October. The consumer sentiment index is expected to inch up to 70.8 in October after rising to 70.1 in September.
After turning in a strong performance in Wednesday’s session, stocks saw modest weakness during trading on Thursday. The major averages all gave back ground, with the Dow and the S&P 500 pulling back off Wednesday’s record closing highs.
The major averages moved to the upside going into the close of trading but remained in the red. The Dow slipped 57.88 points or 0.1 percent to 42,454.12, the Nasdaq edged down 9.57 points or 0.1 percent to 18,282.05 and the S&P 500 dipped 11.99 points or 0.2 percent to 5,780.05.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 2.6 percent.
The major European markets are also narrowly mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is just below the unchanged line and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.52 to $75.33 a barrel after surging $2.61 to $75.85 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after climbing $13.30 to $2,639.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $25.60 to $2,664.90 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 149.21 yen versus the 148.57 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0930 compared to yesterday’s $1.0934.
Business News
U.S. Stocks May Show A Lack Of Direction In Early Trading
2024-10-11 12:54:01
