(Reuters) -Wall Street was set for a lower open on the last day of a turbulent week, as futures erased early gains, while Federal Reserve officials’ dovish signals following a report of a resilient labor market kept losses in check.
The so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks were in the red during premarket trading on Friday.
In the previous session, U.S. stocks had jumped after jobless claims last week fell more than expected, easing worries of a prolonged slowdown in the United States that were spurred after July’s dour jobs data.
The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, stood at 24.52 points, far below the 65.73 at the start of the week, which witnessed a global stocks rout triggered by a surge in yen as a surprise rate hike by the Bank of Japan resulted in unwinding of currency carry trades.
But all major indexes were set for weekly losses, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq headed for a fourth straight week of fall.
“In general, we’re still in this environment where the economy is slowing if not grinding to a halt, inflation is coming down, which is not suggestive at all of recession. We’re still growing, just not as much,” said Christopher Jackson, senior vice president at UBS Wealth Management.
Fed policymakers said on Thursday they were confident that inflation was cooling enough to allow interest-rate cuts ahead, and will take their cues on the size and timing of those cuts from the economic data.
Money markets are evenly split between the Fed cutting rates by 50-basis points and 25-basis points in September, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
Investors are now focusing on next week’s readings on the consumer prices and retail sales for July, which could provide fresh evidence on chances of a soft landing for the American economy.
At 8:30 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were down 18 points, or 0.34%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 92.5 points, or 0.5%, Dow E-minis were down 82 points, or 0.21%
Among individual stocks, Elf Beauty fell 9% after it forecast annual sales and profit below estimates, and said it would raise product prices if Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump comes to power and hikes tariffs on imports from China.
Paramount Global jumped 4.9% as investors cheered strong growth at the media group’s streaming business, even as the company joined rival Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) in writing down the value of its TV assets.
Take-Two (NASDAQ:TTWO) Interactive Software climbed 6.6% as it expects net bookings to grow in fiscal years 2026 and 2027, as the videogame publisher gears up for the launch of its long-awaited “Grand Theft Auto VI” next year.
Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) advanced 8% after the online travel agency beat analysts’ expectations for second-quarter profit, helped by sustained demand for international travel.
The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) jumped 3.3% after the ad tech firm forecast third-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates, signaling strong demand for automated ad-buying technologies from connected TV companies.
Of the 455 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 78.2% have reported above analyst expectations.
Source: Economy - investing.com
