Wall Street Sees Red

The economic calendar is quiet on Friday and the initial cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower.

The political uncertainty in Afghanistan and the increase in delta variant of COVID – 19 virus continue to be concern investors and dampen the market sentiments.
Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading lower.

As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were declining 134.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 16.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 23.75 points.
The U.S. major averages finished broadly higher on Thursday. The Dow edged down 66.57 points or 0.2 percent to 34,894.12, the Nasdaq inched up 15.87 points or 0.1 percent to 14,541.79 and the S&P 500 crept up 5.53 points or 0.1 percent to 4,405.80.

On the economic front, the Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 360K, while the prior revised claims were at 375K.

Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for August will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 25.0, while it was up 21.9 in the prior month.
The Commerce Department’s E-Commerce Retail Sales data for the second quarter is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. In the prior quarter, revised sales data were up 7.8 percent.

The Conference Board’s Leading Indicators for July will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.8 percent, while it was up 0.5 percent in the prior month.

The Commerce Department’s Quarterly Service Survey report for the second quarter is expected at 10.00 am ET. The prior revised increase was 2.5 percent.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 49 bcf.

Two year Treasury Floating Rate Note announcement will be at 11.00 am ET.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be published at 4.30 pm ET. The prior week level was at $8.257 trillion.

Thirty-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.
Asian stocks retreated on Friday. Chinese shares ended lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index fell 38.22 points, or 1.10 percent, to 3,427.33.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended down 1.84 percent at 24,849.72.

Japanese shares ended near an eight-month low, a day after Toyota Motor said it would slash global production for September by 40 percent due to chip crisis. The Nikkei average ended down 267.92 points, or 0.98 percent, at 27,013.25, marking its lowest since December 28. The broader Topix index closed 0.87 percent lower at 1,880.68.
Australian shares fluctuated before ending marginally lower.

European shares are trading lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is declining 24.23 points or 0.37 percent. The German DAX is losing 73.58 points or o.47 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is down 10.39 points or 0.15 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is declining 53.61 points or 0.43 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.17 percent.