© Reuters.
By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally lower Friday, consolidating after recent gains as investors gear up for quarterly results from some of the nation’s major banks with the earnings season kicking into full gear.
At 06:55 ET (11:55 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 65 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 14 points, or 0.3% lower, and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 55 points, or 0.5%.
The three main indices closed higher Thursday after December's inflation report showed prices cooling, largely confirming expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month at a slower pace.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained over 200 points, or 0.6%, the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.6%, rising for the fifth session in a row.
The three indices are on course to register a positive week, with the Nasdaq and S&P on pace for their best weekly performance since November.
Global equity funds recorded their first weekly inflow in 10 weeks in the week to Jan. 11, with data from Refinitiv Lipper showing global equity funds attracted $5.17 billion in net purchases, for their first weekly inflow since Nov. 2.
The market now expects the Fed will raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point at its February meeting, but investors will be looking at the quarterly corporate results to see the extent of the damage the Fed’s aggressive tightening has already done.
The banking sector will be in focus Friday, with the likes of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) due to report earnings. Investors will be eager to hear their thoughts on a possible recession this year and how it will affect consumer spending.
Additionally, Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) will be in the spotlight after the carrier topped sales and profits estimates with a strong finish to the year, while investment giant BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) posted a drop in fourth-quarter profit as a global market rout pressured fee income.
The main economic data release Friday is the University of Michigan sentiment survey for January, with analysts expecting a reading of 60.5 versus the 59.7 earlier.
Oil prices rose Friday, and remained on track for solid weekly gains on growing confidence that China’s reopening will lead to a jump in demand from the world’s largest importer this year.
The crude market also received a boost on Thursday with the release of the soft U.S. consumer price index, which pointed to a less hawkish outlook for the Federal Reserve, weighing on the U.S. dollar.
By 06:55 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.7% higher at $78.90 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.6% to $84.50. Both contracts have gained over 6% so far this week.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,904.45/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% lower at 1.0811.
