U.S. index futures are down in pre-market trading on Friday as investors assess a series of corporate earnings ahead of a critical inflation report release. Despite a week of losses, Wall Street is on track to close out May with significant gains.
At 7:02 AM, Dow Jones futures (DOWI:DJI) dropped 47 points, or 0.12%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.27%, and Nasdaq-100 futures lost 0.45%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury notes stood at 4.556%.
In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude for July rose 0.04%, to $77.94 a barrel. Brent crude for July fell 0.40%, near $81.53 a barrel. Iron ore traded on the Dalian exchange dropped 1.70%, to $121.74 per metric ton.
On Friday’s economic calendar, the PCE index, which measures individual spending, as well as April’s personal income and spending data will be published at 8:30 AM by the Commerce Department. Economists expect a 2.7% year-over-year increase for the core PCE, slightly below the previous gain of 2.8%, according to Dow Jones.
European markets show a slight increase, extending gains from the previous session, in response to recent regional inflation data, which recorded a 2.6% rise in May. This result exceeded the expectations of economists surveyed by Reuters, who had anticipated a modest increase of 0.1 percentage points from April’s index of 2.4%.
Asian markets closed without a clear direction today, reacting to various economic data from the region. In Japan, industrial production unexpectedly fell, while inflation in Tokyo met expectations. Additionally, Japan’s Ministry of Finance announced on Friday the first currency intervention since 2022, spending 9.7885 trillion yen to stabilize the yen after it hit its lowest value in 34 years in April. South Korea reported a notable increase in industrial production. However, the contraction of the industrial sector in China raised concerns, highlighted in a mixed results landscape that included variations in major Asian market indices: Shanghai SE fell 0.16%, Nikkei rose 1.14%, Hang Seng retreated 0.83%, Kospi had a slight rise of 0.04%, and ASX 200 increased 0.96%.
On Thursday, U.S. market indexes faced a day of losses, culminating in negative closings. The Dow Jones Industrial fell 330.06 points, a decline of 0.86%, closing at 38,111.48. The S&P 500 retreated 31.47 points, about 0.60%, ending at 5,235.48, while the Nasdaq saw a decrease of 183.50 points or 1.08%, closing at 16,737.08. Notable decline for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), whose shares plummeted 19.7%, after disappointing results and projections below expectations.
With the imminent release of important inflation data, the market remained cautious, particularly mindful of the implications for future interest rates. Additionally, economic indicators such as a slight increase in unemployment claims and moderate GDP growth also influenced investor sentiment.
Scheduled to present quarterly reports are Genesco (NYSE:GCO), X Financial (NYSE:XYF), BRP Inc (NASDAQ:DOOO), among others.