US pre-open: Futures mostly lower amid stimulus 'stalemate'
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Friday 14 Aug 2020
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures had stocks opening mostly lower on Friday as Republican and Democratic lawmakers hit a brick wall in stimulus talks.
As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.46% and S&P 500 futures 0.27% weaker, while Nasdaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.07% firmer.
The Dow Jones closed 80.12 points in the red on Thursday as lawmakers in Washington still failed to reach an agreement on a new Covid-19 stimulus bill. Stocks tied to the reopening of the economy, such as retailer Gap and American Airlines, ended the session lower, while the likes of Facebook, Netflix, Alphabet and Apple all closed higher.
As far as Friday was concerned, market participants were still firmly focussed on Capitol Hill after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded that Republicans up their aid offer by $1trn before she would consider restarting negotiations.
White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow added that the Trump administration and the Democratic Party were now at a "stalemate".
Weak data out of China, with retail sales dropping 1.1% last month, and a spike in new Covid-19 cases in France also weighed on sentiment ahead of the open.
On the macro front, retails sales data for July will be released at 1330 BST, while last month's industrial production figures and August's preliminary consumer sentiment numbers will follow at 1415 BST and 1500 BST, respectively.
In the corporate space, J C Penney and bookmaker Draftkings will both issue trading updates throughout the course of the day.
Apple shares were again in focus after Epic Games, the company behind the highly-popular Fortnite titles, filed a lawsuit against the US tech giant, citing abuse of power.
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