U.S. stock futures are up on Friday, following a decline on Thursday, with no sign of any significant momentum to set the tone for the day.
The markets remain fairly calm ahead of several major economic data points set to be released on Friday, including the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, a key figure that influences the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions.
See Also: The Fed Is Caught In A Tug-Of-War—And Powell Just Admitted It
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.183% and the two-year bond was at 3.659%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 87.8% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates in its October meeting, which is down from 91.1% on Thursday.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | +0.23% |
| S&P 500 | +0.15% |
| Nasdaq 100 | +0.06% |
| Russell 2000 | +0.09% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) and the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq 100, respectively, are up marginally in pre-market trade, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session
Almost all S&P 500 sectors were in the red on Thursday, with health care, consumer discretionary, and materials leading the way, with energy being the only sector to buck this trend.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 113.16 points during the session, followed by the S&P 500, down 33.25 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 173.96.
Semiconductor giant, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was the top gainer on Thursday, rallying 8.87%, following reports that the company had approached Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) for an investment, as part of its turnaround initiative.
The economic data was bullish on Thursday, with jobless claims coming in at 218,000, below median forecasts at 235,000, and existing home sales at 4.0 million, which was ahead of forecasts at 3.96 million.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | -0.50% | 22,384.70 |
| S&P 500 | -0.50% | 6,604.72 |
| Dow Jones | -0.38% | 45,947.32 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.98% | 2,411.04 |
Insights From Analysts
Analyst Ryan Detrick, the Chief Market Strategist at the Carson Group LLC, said in a post on X that the S&P 500 has rallied 125% since 2019, while noting that 76% of this rally comes from earnings growth and 19% from dividends. “No, this isn’t a bubble,” he said, adding that the rally is, in fact, justified owing to the strong earnings growth.
Detrick also highlighted data forecasting outcomes for the following month, saying that “November has never been lower when the S&P 500 was higher in May, June, July, August, and September.”
Since the S&P 500 has ended in the green in May, June, July and August, the last few trading days of September could set the stage for the rest of November. He, however, adds that October and November are down months on average.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Friday,
- At 7:30 a.m. ET, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin makes a TV appearance.
- At 8:30 a.m. ET, a cluster of economic data is set to be released: August personal income, personal spending, the PCE price index, year-over-year PCE, the core PCE index, and core PCE year-over-year.
- At 9:00 a.m. ET, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin delivers a speech.
- At 10:00 a.m. ET, the final September consumer sentiment reading is published.
- At 1:00 p.m. ET, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman speaks.
Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets
Crude oil futures are up in the early New York session by 0.31%, hovering around $65.18 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.28% to hover around $3,750.68 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $3,788.33 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot is down 0.19% at 98.364 at the time of writing.
Asian markets have extended their decline on Friday, with most indices in the red, barring the Malaysian Stock Exchange. Most European markets, on the other hand, are in the green in early trade.
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