By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening lower Friday, on course to register a losing week as investors fret about the Federal Reserve starting to withdraw its extraordinary monetary stimulus while mounting Covid cases threaten global growth.
At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 155 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 Futures traded 17 points, or 0.4%, lower, while Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 38 points, or 0.2%.
The major indices are on track to close the week lower, with the broad-based S&P 500 and the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average both set to post their worst weekly performances since June, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is on course for its worst week since May.
This change in sentiment, after the major averages posted record closing highs last week, was driven by the minutes of the last Fed meeting, which suggested the central bank could begin reducing its bond buying later this year.
This is likely to occur just as a surge in new Covid-19 cases, linked to the highly contagious delta variant, looks set to slow growth by prompting a fresh round of business shutdowns.
The Federal Reserve hosts the Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming next week, but ahead of that Robert Kaplan, one of the most influential members of the FOMC, speaks later Friday. He said earlier this month that the central bank should start reducing its bond-buying program "soon".
The second quarter earnings season is almost finished, but there are still a few companies releasing results. Deere (NYSE:DE) is likely to be in the spotlight after the farm equipment maker lifted its full-year earnings forecast on strong demand for farm and construction equipment.
Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) is also scheduled to release numbers, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) will also be in focus as it faces a revived antitrust lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission, and Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) will likely benefit from the announcement of a $1 billion buyback program.
Elsewhere, oil prices slipped lower Friday adding to the hefty losses already seen this week amid concerns about global demand growth as measures to tackle the delta coronavirus variant hit mobility.
Later in the session, the Baker Hughes' rig count data will be studied amid signs of increasing shale output, as will the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s data on net positioning by hedge funds and money managers.
By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.9% lower at $62.95 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.8% to $65.89. Both contracts are trading near three-month lows, and are on course for weekly losses of around 6%.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,786.65/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.1679.