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US equity index futures edged up on Friday, as key benchmarks are expected to deliver strong gains for the week and the S & P 500 near record territory.
Investors will receive an update on retail sales and consumer sentiment, and hear about a few speakers from the Federal Reserve. Markets will also be on the lookout for updates on Hurricane Florence, which was already wreaking havoc on the Caroline coastline.
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What are the main benchmarks?
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YMZ8, + 0.15%
increased by 28 points, or 0.1%, to 26,213, while the S & P 500 futures contracts
ESZ8, + 0.15%
added 3.7 points, or 0.1%, to 2,914. Higher gains were recorded for Nasdaq-100 futures contracts.
NQZ8, + 0.32%
up 25 points, or 0.3%, to 7,618.
Thursday, the Dow
DJIA, + 0.57%
closed up 0.6% to finish at 26,145.99, its first close above 26,000 this month. The S & P 500
SPX, + 0.53%
increased by 0.5% to 2,904.18 and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP + 0.75%
gained 0.8% to finish at 8,013.71.
The S & P finished at 0.3% of its record of 2914.04 reached August 29th.
For the week ahead and one session remaining, the Dow Jones envisioned a 0.9% gain, the S & P 500 an increase of 1.1% and the Nasdaq a weekly rise of 1.4%. All three indexes rebounded after last week's declines.
What are the driving markets?
Continued enthusiasm for global trade helped to generate gains at the end of the week. Investors will be on the lookout for further comments from the United States or China after the White House administration has invited Chinese officials to the table to try to wrap up a trade agreement. This meeting could take place by the end of the month.
Hurricane Florence hit the Caroline coast on Friday morning. CoreLogic estimates that wind and storm surges caused by the hurricane would result in property losses of between $ 3 billion and $ 5 billion. The slow storm has been downgraded to a Category 1 storm, but no less dangerous, providing forecasts for "catastrophic" floods.
What do the strategists say?
"As the CPI gets colder and wages rise, the US looks set to continue to outperform economically, although continued outflows of US stocks suggest we are not yet at the stage of irrational exuberance," he said. said Chris Beauchamp, principal analyst at IG, in a note to clients.
What economic reports are available?
The focus will be on retail sales, with an update scheduled for August at 8:30 am Eastern Time. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected a gain of 0.3% against a rise of 0.5% in July. The import prices for August will be published at the same time.
Then at 9:15 am EST, August industrial production data will be released, followed by consumer sentiment for September and corporate stocks for July, both at 10am EST. l & # 39; Is.
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On the front of the Federal Reserve, Chicago Fed defender Charles Evans is expected to speak before the opening bell, and Eric Rosengren of the Boston Fed should meet shortly after the opening.
What are the targeted stocks?
Marijuana-related stocks declined in pre-market operations after a report indicated that the US government could ban those who were investing in or working in the sector or using the pot.
TLRY, + 14.11%
fell by almost 8%, Cronos Group Inc.
CRON, -10.29%
4% and Cronos Group Inc.
CRON, -10.29%
dropped 2.4%.
Shares of NiSource Inc.
OR, + 0.68%
After announcing that customers of one of the company's seven regulated utilities, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, were asked to evacuate following gas-related explosions in cities outside of Boston,
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What are other markets doing?
European stocks
SXXP, + 0.26%
Asian markets also had an essentially positive session.
Future at the gold
GCZ8, + 0.27%
were modestly positive, with oil futures
CLV8, + 0.52%
while the ICE US Dollar Index
DXY, -0.07%
was stable.
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