Investing.com – U.S. stock index futures traded little changed on Friday, looking for direction to end a week that saw indexes hit record highs.
At 6:20 a.m. ET (1020 GMT), shares were down 11 points, or 0.1%, and trading mostly unchanged, after rising 7 points, or 0.1%.
Wall Street’s major indexes closed lower Thursday as investors took profits after softer-than-expected results, sending those averages to record highs on Wednesday and Thursday.
It was down 0.2% after the first break above the closely watched 5300 level on Wednesday and down 0.3% after hitting an all-time high. It fell 0.1% after breaking the psychologically important 40,000 level for the first time on Thursday.
Despite Thursday’s losses, all three indexes are posting strong gains this week.
Hawkish Fed officials weigh in
Sentiment was weighed down by multiple statements from Fed officials this week that the central bank still needs more confidence to cut interest rates and that the timing of that move remains uncertain.
The Atlanta Fed president welcomed the softer inflation data but cautioned that no positive indicator indicated a trend and that the central bank was not maintaining any rate cut expectations.
Before Bostic, the New York Fed President said that although the trend in consumer inflation was positive, it still did not require an immediate reduction in interest rates.
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Cleveland Fed President said the Fed needs to keep rates high longer to bring down inflation and that the central bank needs more evidence that price pressures are easing.
All three Fed officials are voting members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee.
Their comments showed investors had overestimated expectations for a rate cut this year, with traders trimming bets slightly on a 25 basis point cut in September, according to the instrument.
Reddit OpenAI partnership surge
Earnings season is slowly coming to an end, but some companies are still reporting their quarterly results.
Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ:) fell 2.6% in premarket trading after the company posted disappointing full-year earnings guidance and the video game publisher doesn’t expect to release the hotly anticipated GTA VI game until 2025.
DXC Technology (NYSE:) shares fell more than 20% after the company also provided disappointing full-year guidance.
Separately, shares of social network Reddit (NYSE:) jumped more than 13% in premarket trading after it partnered with artificial intelligence major OpenAI to add its content to the company’s AI products.
So-called meme stocks GameStop (NYSE:) and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:) showed some improvement in pre-market trading, rising 7% and 5%, respectively. Both indexes fell between 15% and 30% on Thursday as the recovery petered out.
Oil on track for weekly gains
Oil prices rose on Friday, putting them on track for a weekly gain, helped by signs of improving demand and slowing inflation in the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer.
By 6:20 a.m. ET, U.S. crude futures were trading flat at $79.23 a barrel, while the Brent contract was up 0.1% at $83.35 a barrel. Both contracts could show weekly gains of around 1%.
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Oil markets were supported by a softer-than-expected rise in inflation, raising the prospect of rate cuts, potentially boosting future global economic activity and therefore oil demand.
Falling U.S. oil inventories have also raised hopes for improved demand, especially as the travel-heavy summer season approaches.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)