Stock futures fall, putting S&P 500 on track to snap a 4-week winning streak
U.S. stock index futures were lower on Friday, dimming hopes that the S&P 500 could grind out another positive week. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.93%, while those tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 260 points, or 0.77%. Nasdaq 100 futures slid 1.03%. For the week, the S&P 500 entered Friday’s session up just 0.08%, and the Dow was up 0.7% in that time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq came into Friday riding a 0.6% weekly loss. The S&P 500 has posted a gain in each of the last four weeks. While this week has seen relatively muted moves on Wall Street, it comes on the heels of a solid rally since mid-June. “The market is doing a little consolidating this week, a little flip-flopping. ... I think this is still a healthy market,” said Frank Gretz, a technical analyst at Wellington Shields, citing solid advance-decline ratios in recent weeks. There are no major economic reports due out on Friday, but traders are still parsing through some key earnings. Applied Materials shares rose slightly in the premarket on the back of a better-than-expected quarterly report. Asia-Pacific markets were mostly flat on Friday against an also muted Wall Street looking to revive its recent market rally. It was largely negative territory for mainland China markets. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.59% to 3,258.08 while the Shenzhen Component dipped 1.27% to 12,358.54. The Hang Seng index closed flat. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also finished flat at 28,930.33 while the Topix index added 0.2% to 1994.52. The Kospi was down at 0.61% at close. Oil prices slipped on Friday after two days of gains and are heading for weekly losses as a strong dollar and worries about a global economic slowdown weigh. Brent crude futures were down $2.03, or 2.1%, at $94.56 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $88.66 a barrel, down $1.84 cents or 2%. Both benchmark contracts were headed for weekly losses of more than 3%. A strong dollar has made oil more expensive for holders of other currencies, while Asian and European equities dropped. Gold was headed for its first weekly drop in a month after hitting a three-week low on Friday, under pressure from a stronger dollar and rising U.S. bond yields as the Federal Reserve looked set for more interest rate hikes. Spot gold fell for a fifth straight session, down 0.4% at $1,750.51 per ounce as of 1110 GMT, in what could be its longest losing streak since November 2021. U.S. gold futures slipped 0.4% to $1,764.60.