Wall Street Eyes Solid Weekly Gains
FOX Business: Capitalism Lives Here
U.S. stock-index futures held steady on Friday after a hectic week for Wall Street, with the major market averages eyeing solid weekly gains.
Today's Markets
As of 8:00 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 16 points to 15557, S&P 500 futures dipped 2.3 points to 1715 and Nasdsaq 100 futures climbed 1.5 points to 3234.
The Federal Reserve roiled markets on Wednesday by holding off on scaling back its massive bond-buying program. Stocks surged, Treasury yields dipped, gold rallied. That enthusiasm is finally waning, but it's left the Dow and S&P up significantly for the week, and right near record highs.
The economic calendar is bare on the day. However, an event referred to as "quadruple witching," where several varieties of derivatives contracts expire could spark higher-than-usual volumes. In fact, the New York Stock Exchange sent out a note to traders saying it expects "increased market activity at the close" and will hold a special call to keep market participants updated.
On the corporate front, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched its newest suite of iPhones across the world on the day. It's the first time the struggling tech giant has simultaneously released phones in the U.S. and China -- the world's two biggest economies. Brian White, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, reckons Apple could sell between 6 and 6.5 million iPhones this weekend.
Goodyear Tire (NYSE:GT) declared a quarterly dividend of five cents a share and reaffirmed its full-year outlook.
In commodities, U.S. crude oil prices fell 73 cents, or 0.69%, to $105.66 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rose 0.15% to $2.701 a gallon. Gold slid $14.70, or 1.1%, to $1,354 a troy once.
Foreign Markets
The Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.03% to 2937, the English FTSE 100 fell 0.06% to 6621 and the German DAX advanced 0.09% to 8702.
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 dipped 0.16% to 14742 and the Chinese Hang Seng soared 1.7% to 23503.