Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a lower open on Friday as investors waited for key economic reports.
The blue-chip Dow futures lost 32 points, or 0.15%, at 6:52AM ET (10:52GMT), the S&P 500 futures fell 5 points, or 0.23%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 9 points, or 0.16%.
After the retail sector tanked Thursday as worrisome earnings sent Macy’s (NYSE:M) crashing 17%, investors will keep a sharp eye out on data to gauge consumer strength at the beginning of the second quarter.
The Commerce Department will publish data on April retail sales at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT) Friday. The consensus forecast is that the report will show retail sales rose 0.6% last month, snapping back after two straight declines.
Core sales are forecast to inch up 0.5%, after holding flat a month earlier.
Markets will also pay close attention to preliminary data on consumer sentiment in May out from the University of Michigan at 10:00AM ET (16:00GMT). The index is expected to remain steady at 97.
Apart from consumer data, markets will also look for trends in prices on Friday and gauge their impact on Federal Reserve (Fed) policy.
The Commerce Department will also publish April inflation figures at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT) Friday. Market analysts expect consumer prices to ease up 0.2%, while core inflation is forecast to increase 0.2%.
On a yearly base, core CPI is projected to climb 2%. Core prices are viewed by the Federal Reserve as a better gauge of longer-term inflationary pressure because they exclude the volatile food and energy categories. The central bank usually tries to aim for 2% core inflation or less.
Signs of an improving economy or inflationary environment would likely support the dollar as calls for a June rate hike by the Federal Reserve intensify.
According to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool, Fed fund futures currently price in the chance of the first hike arriving in June at around 74%, while odds for two increases by the end of the year hovered below the 50% threshold.
On the business front, retailers would remain in focus as shares in Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) were down by 4% after Thursday’s close as the department store chain reported a worse-than-expected drop of 0.8% in first quarter comparable sales.
Low cost rival JC Penney (NYSE:JCP) was scheduled to report earnings before the opening bell on Friday.
In other company news, Sprint (NYSE:S) and its controlling shareholder SoftBank started preliminary conversations to merge with T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS), Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile, oil pulled back on Friday as investors took profit after two sessions of strong gain that put black gold on track for weekly gains of 3%.
Crude was still headed for weekly gains of 3% on the back of a large draw in U.S. inventories and Algeria and Iraq lifted hopes that the OPEC-led supply-cut agreement would be extended beyond June, after both nations said they would support a deal extension.
Market players showed caution Friday ahead of the latest weekly data on U.S. drilling activity and continuing concern that the increase in stateside production would derail OPEC’s attempts to cut down on the global supply glut.
Last week, oilfield service provider Baker Hughes said rigs rose by 6 to 703 for the sixteenth straight weekly increase.
U.S. crude futures fell 0.23% to $47.72 by 6:53AM ET (10:53GMT), while Brent oil lost 0.12% to $50.71.
Elsewhere, European equities registered timid gains as preliminary data showed that German gross domestic product rose 0.6% in the first quarter, beating smaller expansions seen in the U.S., U.K. and France.
However, a weaker-than-expected reading on March industrial production in the wider euro zone dampened enthusiasm.
Earlier, Asian stocks retreated from a near two year high on Friday, but the Shanghai Composite broke the general trend, paring its fifth weekly decline.