U.S. stock futures weakened Friday, on course to record another losing week as U.S. economic resilience raised concerns about future interest rate increases.
By 06:30 ET (10:30 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 60 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 10 points, or 0.2%, lower and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 55 points, or 0.4%.
The main equities indices closed lower Thursday after the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed to its highest level since October 2022 in the wake of the hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting, pointing to interest rate hikes ahead.
Risk sentiment has also been hurt in recent days by China’s sluggish economic recovery and growing concerns about its property market.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed almost 300 points, or 0.8%, lower Thursday. It is down 2.3% so far this week, on pace for its worst week since March. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.2%, both on course for three consecutive losing weeks.
Jackson Hole symposium looms large
The Fed is still widely expected to stand pat in terms of interest rate hikes at its next policy meeting in September, but still elevated inflation levels and data showing a resilient economy have raised expectations that there could be another hike before the end of the year.
Fed officials are meeting next week in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Chair Jerome Powell’s speech is eagerly awaited as it could give hints about the bank’s thinking heading into that next policy meeting.
“The backdrop for the speech will still be a Chair who may see glimmers of hope in the recent CPI data but remains concerned over restoring price stability,” analysts at UBS said, in a note.
“In other words, the FOMC is not out of the inflation woods yet, similar to the tone in the July FOMC meeting minutes,” UBS added.
Quarterly earnings continue
There are more earnings to digest Friday, with the likes of agricultural equipment maker Deere & Company (NYSE:DE), cosmetics giant Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) and cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) scheduled to release results during the session.
Additionally, Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) stock climbed over 5% premarket after the discount store raised its annual sales and profit forecasts after beating quarterly estimates, helped by customers shopping for cheaper clothing.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) stock also climbed after the semiconductor equipment maker offered up a buoyant forecast as chip demand picks up and governments spend billions on subsidies.
Crude set to end prolonged weekly winning streak
Oil prices steadied Friday, but look set to end a seven-week winning streak on concerns of slowing growth in China, the world’s largest crude importer, as well as the potential of higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve.
Crude prices saw some strength on Thursday, rising from a two-week low after China’s central bank said it will keep markets flush with liquidity to help shore up economic growth.
However, both contracts were set to lose over 3% this week after having rallied for the past seven weeks post extended supply cuts by major producers Saudi Arabia and Russia.
By 06:30 ET, the U.S. crude futures edged 0.1% lower to $80.33 a barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 0.2% to $83.92.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,924.25/oz, while EUR/USD traded largely unchanged at 1.0872.
