Futures Point To Lower Open For Wall Street

Early trends from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open in negative territory.

Asian shares finished mostly lower while European shares are trading in the red.
On a mute day of trading, investors might be interested in the Labor Department’s report on Employment.

As of 7.05 am ET, the Dow futures were down 92.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were losing 13.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were declining 60.50 points.

The U.S. major averages closed lower on Thursday. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit new lows in the session. The Nasdaq slid 81.91 points or 0.6 percent to 14,510.30 and the S&P 500 fell 16.13 points or 0.3 percent at 4,688.68.

On the economic front, the Employment Situation for December will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for non-farm payrolls is at 164,000, while it was up 199,000 in November. The consensus for private payrolls is for a growth of 127,000, while it was up 150,000 in the prior month.

The Factory Orders for November will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 2.0 percent, while it was down 3.6 percent in the prior month.

The ISM Services Index for December is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 52.7, while it was up 52.7 in the previous month.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be revealed at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 708 and the U.S. rig count was 622.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin will make a speech at 1.30 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended mostly down on Friday. Chinese and Hong Kong markets finished lower.

China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 0.85 percent to 2,929.18. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index settled 0.66 percent lower at 16,535.33.

Japanese shares eked out modest gains. The Nikkei average rose 0.27 percent to 33,377.42.

The broader Topix index gained 0.62 percent to close at 2,393.54.

Australian markets ended a choppy session marginally lower. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 finished down at 7,489.10 while the broader All Ordinaries index…