Wall Street Poised To Open In Negative Territory

The U.S. retail sales, import and export prices and industrial production might be the focus on Friday.

President Trump’s policy announcements on tariff also might get attention. Russia’s attack on the former Chernobyl nuclear plant has created new challenges to the region.

In the Asian trading session, gold ticked higher, while oil edged up.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower.

As of 8.00 am ET, the Dow futures were down 96.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 6.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were tumbling 23.25 points.

The major averages ended Thursday near their high of the session. The Nasdaq surged 295.69 points or 1.5 percent to 19,945.64, the S&P 500 jumped 63.10 points or 1.0 percent to 6,115.07 and the Dow advanced 342.87 points or 0.8 percent at 44,711.43.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department’s Retail Sales for January will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.1 percent, while it was up 0.4 percent in the prior month.

The Labor Department’s Import and Export Prices for January will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.4 percent, while it was up 0.1 percent in the previous month.

The Industrial Production for January will be released at 9.15 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.9 percent in December.

The Business Inventories for December is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.1 percent in the prior month.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is expected at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 835 and the U.S. rig count was 586.

Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan will speaks before the 159th Assembly for Bank Directors, Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University at 3.00 pm ET.

Asian stocks rose broadly on Friday. China’s Shanghai Composite index ended 0.43 percent higher at 3,346.72.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 3.69 percent to 22,620.33.

Japanese markets fell notably. The Nikkei average dropped 0.79 percent to 39,149.43. The broader Topix index settled 0.23 percent lower at 2,759.21.

Australian markets trimmed some gains after hitting a record high earlier. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 edged up by 0.19 percent to 8,555.80 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.24 percent higher at 8,825.10.

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