Futures dip; economic data blast awaited for rate-hike clues

U.S. stock index futures were slightly lower on Friday, with investors shrugging off North Korea’s latest missile test and instead awaiting a slew of economic data for indicators on when interest rates will next be raised.

• Pyongyang fired a second missile in as many weeks over Japan, an action that drew widespread criticism from global leaders but barely moved shares and other risk assets.

• Wall Street ended mixed on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX falling as domestic consumer prices grew at their briskest pace in seven months, increasing the odds of a third interest rate hike this year.

• Data on Friday includes a report at 8:30 a.m. ET (12:30 GMT) that is likely to show U.S. retail sales rose 0.1 percent in August, following a strong reading in July that suggested the economy continued to gain momentum early in the third quarter.

• Consumer sentiment likely dipped in September to 95.1 in from 96.8 in August, a preliminary reading from University of Michigan report is expected to show at 10:00 a.m. ET.

• A Federal Reserve report at 9:15 a.m. ET is expected to show industrial production increased 0.1 percent in August, after rising 0.2 percent in July.

• Volatility may rise on as Friday, which marks the quadruple witching day, when investors unwind interests in futures and options contracts prior to their expiration.

• Among stocks, Oracle’s (ORCL.N) shares fell 3.77 percent in premarket trading due to the company’s disappointing profit forecast and indications of a slowing cloud business.

• United Continental (UAL.N), Spirit Airlines (SAVE.O) and American Airlines (AAL.O) fell between 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent after JPMorgan downgraded all three stocks.

• Equifax (EFX.N) dropped 2.23 percent, on track for its biggest weekly drop since July 2001, in the aftermath of a massive data breach.

• Carnival Corp (CCL.N) was down 3.39 percent after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “outperform”.

Futures snapshot at 7:01 a.m. ET:

• Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were up 3 points, or 0.01 percent, with 3,516 contracts changing hands.

• S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 2.75 points, or 0.11 percent, with 28,982 contracts traded.

• Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 8.5 points, or 0.14 percent, on volume of 4,662 contracts.

(REUTERS)