Following a respite from Tuesday's stock sell-off, stock markets could experience a modest decline in Friday's early trading. The major index futures suggest potential downturns, with the S&P 500 futures falling by about 0.2 percent.
Anxiety over possible changes in interest rates is reigniting in response to the recent U.S. Department of Labor report. The report indicated that U.S. producer prices in January increased more than initially forecasted. The producer price index grew by 0.3 percent in January, following a 0.1 percent drop in the prior month - contrary to economists' predictions of a 0.1 percent increase.
The figures for food, energy and trade services omitted, core producer prices hiked by 0.6 percent in January, surpassing December's 0.2 percent increase. A decrease was observed in the annual rate of producer price growth from 1.0 percent in December to 0.9 percent in January, contradicting economists' forecast of a slow down to 0.6 percent.
This week's unexpected rise in consumer price inflation could heighten worries about potential delays from the Federal Reserve in implementing interest rate cuts - a move investors were anticipating to happen sooner.
The University of Michigan is set to reveal its preliminary consumer sentiment report for February soon after trading begins. Consumer sentiment for February is predicted to rise slightly to 80.0 from 79.0 in January.
Thursday's trading session saw a mixed but overall positive performance from stocks, especially towards the end of the day, with the S&P 500 achieving a record closing high.
Internationally, most of Asia-Pacific's stock markets reported gains on Friday. Notable rises included a 0.9 percent increase in Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and a 2.5 percent surge in Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index. European markets also saw positive movement, with a 1.4 percent rise for the U.K's FTSE 100 Index, while the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both climbed about 0.4 and 0.3 percent respectively.
In terms of commodities, crude oil futures slipped to $77.79 a barrel, descending $0.24 following a $1.39 increase to $78.03 a barrel on Thursday. Gold futures, after a $10.60 rise to $2,014.90 an ounce during the previous session, are slightly lower, dipping by $5.10 to $2,009.80 an ounce.
As for currency, as compared to Thursday's closing in New York, the U.S. dollar currently trades at 150.53 yen, slightly up from 149.94 yen. Conversely, the dollar dropped against the euro, moving from yesterday's $1.0772 to $1.0744 today.
