Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a lower open on Friday after China release first quarter GDP numbers and as investors waited for an array of economic data and first quarter earnings from Citigroup
The blue-chip Dow futures lost 28 points, or 0.16%, by 10:44AM GMT, or 6:44AM ET, the S&P 500 futures shed 4 points, or 0.19%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 10 points, or 0.22%.
U.S. stocks looked set to follow losses in Europe and take a breather on Friday after the Dow closed the previous day at its highest level since July.
Financial stocks chalked up a five-day rally on Thursday after earnings reports from Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) was scheduled to report its own first quarter earnings on Friday at 12:00GMT, or 8:00AM ET.
Analysts had mixed opinions over the growth in the Chinese economy. The 6.7% expansion was in line with estimates and some pointed to it as a sign of stabilization of the world’s second largest economy, despite it being the slowest pace in seven years.
However, Moody’s showed concern that the debt-fueled support for near-term growth may further increase long-term imbalances.
Stateside an array of economic indicators was scheduled to be released later in the day.
On the last trading day of the week, investors will watch an array of data releases stateside with the NY Empire State Manufacturing Index for April out at 12:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET, March industrial production at 13:15GMT, or 9:15AM ET, and the April consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan at 14:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET.
Eyes will also be on Chicago Federal Reserve bank president Charles Evans who was scheduled to deliver a speech to the JP Morgan Investor Seminar at 16:30GMT, or 12:30ET.
In the meantime, the dollar held near two-and-a-half week highs.
Specifically, the U.S. Dollar Index, that gauges the greenback’s value against a basket of six other currencies, slipped 0.15% to 94.80, at 10:46AM GMT, or 6:46AM ET.
Oil fell on Friday as investors exited positions ahead of the gathering of OPEC and non-OPEC countries in Doha on Sunday to discuss the possibility of an output freeze meant to stabilize oil markets.
Putting downward pressure on black gold, the Iranian oil minister announced that he would not attend the meeting, although he said the OPEC governor will be present.
Meanwhile, investors waited for the U.S. rig count data from Baker Hughes which will be released later on Friday.
U.S. crude futures lost 2.00% to $40.67 by 10:47AM GMT, or 6:47AM ET, while Brent oil traded down 1.71% to $43.09.