Stock futures turn lower ahead of economic data

Investors will examine data on retail sales and industrial production

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U.S. equity futures are reversing and are now pointing to a lower open when Wall Street opens on Friday.

The major futures indexes are indicating a decline of  0.4 percent.

The latest move comes as investors weighed weak economic data and rising tensions with China against broad pushes to reopen the economy.

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Several economic reports are on tap for investors to digest on Friday.

Retail sales for April are estimated to fall 12 percent month-over-month, easily surpassing the record 8.4 percent plunge in March.

CORONAVIRUS LIKELY HAMMERED US RETAIL SALES AGAIN IN APRIL

The Federal Reserve is expected to say that U.S. industrial output plunged 11.5 percent in April, topping a 1945 record decline.

The University of Michigan’s preliminary index of consumer sentiment for May is also expected to fall.

In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei finished up 0.6 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 0.1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1 percent.

The German economy shrank by 2.2 percent in the first quarter compared with the previous three-month period as shutdowns in the country and beyond started to bite, official data showed Friday.

In Europe,  London's FTSE gained 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX added 1.3 percent and France's CAC rose 0.4 percent.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 39760.08 +477.75 +1.22%
SP500 S&P 500 5248.49 +44.91 +0.86%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 16399.520634 +83.82 +0.51%

On Wall Street Thursday, the S&P 500 climbed 1.2 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9 percent.

U.S. benchmark crude added 44 cents to $28.00 a barrel. Brent, the international standard, added 53 cents to $31.66 a barrel.

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The Associated Press contributed to this article.