US pre-open: Futures lower following S&P 500's record-setting session

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Friday after yesterday's solid gains saw the S&P 500 hit a fresh record high. As of 1235 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.14%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.15% and 0.17% weaker, respectively.

The Dow closed 408.34 points higher on Thursday after Donald Trump told world leaders that he would "demand that interest rates drop immediately".

Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "US stock index futures were a touch lower this morning, pulling back following gains for all four majors on Thursday. Yesterday the S&P 500 finally broke above 6,100 to hit a fresh all-time high, while also posting a record close. The Dow and Nasdaq 100 were both around 1% below their respective all-time highs, while the mid-cap, domestically-focused Russell 2000 is now 6% adrift. Bear in mind how the Russell outperformed the other indices in the aftermath of Trump's decisive electoral victory in November. Could this suggest that there are problems in the broader US stock market, away from the giant multinationals?

"The dollar retreated as tariffs weren't forthcoming, and it fell further overnight following Trump's call for an immediate cut in interest rates. His call comes just ahead of next week's Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting. Although the probability of another cut from the Fed is realistically zero. The fourth quarter earnings season has had a positive start, and this is helping to support equities."

On the macro front, preliminary readings of S&P Global's manufacturing, services and composite PMIs were scheduled for release at 1445 GMT, while December existing home sales and January's University of Michigan consumer sentiment index will follow at 1500 GMT.

In the corporate space, shares in semiconductor outfit Texas Instruments traded lower on the back of disappointing quarterly earnings guidance, while Boeing shares flew south after the publication of preliminary Q4 numbers, and pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk traded sharply higher thanks to positive headline results from early-stage trials into one of its weight loss drugs.

American Express and Verizon were also slated to report earnings on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com