Stock futures fall after record week
The big number in the U.S. that traders will be watching will be existing home sales for December
U.S. equity futures were trading lower the day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched record closes.
The major futures indexes suggested a decline of 0.7% when the opening bell rings.
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Asian stock markets retreated Friday after a resurgence of coronavirus infections in China and a rise in cases in Southeast Asia.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo sank 0.4%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 1.6% and China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4%.
In Europe, London's FTSE was off 0.9%, Germany's DAX fell 0.9% and France's CAC declined 1.3%.
The big number in the U.S. that traders will be watching will be existing home sales for December. The National Association of Realtors was expected to say that sales of previously owned homes slipped 2% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.55 million units, down from 6.69 million in November.
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The first week of earnings season wraps up Friday morning with a trio of financial names reporting: Ally Financial, Regions Financial and Huntington Bancshares.
Other companies reporting will be energy equipment and services giant Schlumberger, and railroad Kansas City Southern.
IBM shares are down more than 7% in the premarket after saying the company expects to return to revenue growth this year, after reporting lower sales every quarter in 2020. In the latest quarter, IBM's revenue fell to $20.37 billion from $21.78 billion a year earlier. Fourth-quarter profit fell to $1.36 billion, or $1.51 a share. On an adjusted basis profit from continuing operations was $2.07 a share.
Intel shares are under pressure, down more than 4% in the premarket. The company reported record annual sales and fourth-quarter results topped expectations, but the company plans to outsource some chip production.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 38480.91 | +240.93 | +0.63% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5068.61 | +58.01 | +1.16% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15704.98713 | +253.68 | +1.64% |
On Thursday, the benchmark S&P 500 index ended up less than 0.1% at 3,853.07 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost less than 0.1% to 31,176.01.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6% to 13,530.91 after traders bid up shares in Big Tech stocks, including Apple, Amazon and Facebook. That helped outweigh losses in energy, bank and other stocks.
Stocks have risen on optimism the rollout of vaccines developed by U.S., European and Chinese drug companies would allow economies to return to normal.
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Markets also have been encouraged by the inauguration of President Biden, who has proposed a $1.9 trillion economic aid package, including $1,400 cash payments for most Americans.
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Benchmark U.S. crude lost $1.32 to $51.78 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 11 cents on Thursday to $53.13. Brent crude, the price standard for international oils, shed $1.23 to $54.86 per barrel in London. It rose 2 cents the previous session to $56.10 a barrel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.