Early trading on Friday indicates that stocks may decline, reversing the upward trend observed in the past few sessions. Presently, market indicators suggest a somewhat reduced opening for the S&P 500, with futures down by 0.2 percent.
A significant drop in Intel (INTC) shares is expected to negatively influence the markets. The semiconductor powerhouse saw a 9.8 percent downturn in pre-market trading. Intel has faced considerable pressure following its better than expected performance in the fourth quarter but poor first-quarter guidance.
Visa (V), a payment processor, could also see a slump despite exceeding estimates for fiscal first-quarter earnings. This is due to its forecast of an impending slowdown in revenue growth for the current quarter.
A contrarily, American Express (AXP) is anticipating initial gains after the financial services company released a fourth-quarter report that fell short of estimates but predicted strong results for 2024.
Even after the Commerce Department reported an unexpected slowdown in core consumer price growth rate for December, futures remained in negative territory. Consumer prices for December stood at a 2.6 percent rise compared to the same period last year, unchanged from November and consistent with economists' predictions.
Simultaneously, the report reveals that the growth rate of core consumer prices, excluding food and energy costs, fell to 2.9 percent in December from 3.2 percent in November. Economists were expecting the core price growth to decrease to 3.0 percent.
The annual inflation readings, favored by the Federal Reserve, were part of the Commerce Department's monthly report on personal income and expenditure.
A short while after the market opens, the National Association of Realtors is slated to release December's pending home sales report. Pending home sales are projected to see a 1.5 percent rise in December, following a stable report in November.
Despite early gains, stocks declined before rebounding towards closing time on Thursday. The Dow and the S&P 500 broke new record closing highs, while the Nasdaq claimed its best closing level in over two years.
Overseas trade resulted in mixed performance from the stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region on Friday. The Nikkei 225 Index in Japan slid 1.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index marginally rose by 0.1 percent along with South Korea's Kospi at 0.3 percent.
The major European markets, on the other hand, all trended upwards. The French CAC 40 Index surged 2.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 1.5 percent, and the German DAX Index showed a marginal increment of 0.1 percent.
In commodity trading, crude oil futures deviated by $0.81 to $76.55 a barrel from Thursday's $2.27 surge to $77.36 a barrel. Gold futures, which slightly rose by $1.80 to $2,017.80 an ounce in the previous session, are now up by $3.30 at $2,021.10 an ounce.
Regarding currency, the US dollar is trading at 147.72 yen versus the 147.66 yen it held at Thursday’s New York trading close. Against the Euro, the dollar's value has shifted to $1.0870 from $1.0846 yesterday.
