U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat to weaker start on Friday, with the technology sector set to come under pressure after troubling earnings results from Snap and Intel though the S&P 500 remains close to its record high.
How are stock-index futures trading?
- Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00 were steady at 35,498
- S&P 500 futures ES00 were modestly lower at 4,539
- Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00 dropped 0.4% to 15,427
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA fell 6 points, or 0.02%, to 35,603, the S&P 500 SPX increased 14 points, or 0.3%, to a record 4,549.78, and the Nasdaq Composite COMP gained 94 points, or 0.62%, to 15216.
What’s driving the market?
In a year that has seen stock-market indexes hit record after record, the S&P 500 saw a new record high Thursday for the first time since Sept. 2. A largely upbeat earnings reporting season pushed the index up this week, though worries over inflation, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and troubles for China’s economy hover in the background.
While the S&P 500 could squeak out another high on Friday, the going may be tougher for technology stocks and the Nasdaq after Snapchat parent Snap SNAP late Thursday forecast a weaker-than-expected holiday season, mostly blaming data privacy changes by Apple AAPL on iOS devices for an expected revenue drop.
“Apple’s new privacy policy is likely to act as a headwind for not just Snap but for the broader sector, the extent of which will be laid bare next week when some of the other social media behemoths such as Facebook release their quarterly results,” said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, in a note to clients.
“Expectations are that Facebook could face similar issues with the potential for a revenue hit of its own,” she said, adding that a more-than-20% drop in Snap shares after those results have led to a 60% retracement of year-to-date gains.
Across the internet sector, shares of Facebook FB fell nearly 4%, Twitter TWTR 4.5%, and Google parent Alphabet GOOGL slipped 1%.
Elsewhere in tech, Intel INTC shares fell 9% in premarket trading, after the chip maker’s revenue and data-center sales just missed expectations, while it also forecast a lower-than-expected earnings and gross margins forecast.
Honeywell International HON, Seagate Technology Holdings STX, Schlumberger Ltd. SLB and American Express Co. AXP are due to report results Friday.
Some relief over indebted property developer China Evergrande HK:6666 may have arrived though, after a government newspaper reported the troubled property giant made an overdue $83.5 million payment to foreign bondholders.
U.S. economic data due Friday, includes the IHS Markit manufacturing and services purchasing managers indexes for October.
Meanwhile in politics, President Joe Biden said at CNN town hall meeting Thursday evening that he probably doesn’t have the votes to boost corporate taxes. He also said he may alter or eliminate the filibuster to protect voting rights, and would consider using the National Guard to unclog the supply chains.