Dow Futures 145 Pts Higher; Retail Sales Data Due

By Peter Nurse

Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Friday, continuing to rebound after a difficult start to the week ahead of the release of key retail sales data.

At 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 145 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 Futures traded 25 points, or 0.6%, higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 135 points, or 1%.

All three major U.S. stock indexes notched solid gains on Thursday, bouncing back from three straight days of selling, The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.3%, or over 400 points, higher, the S&P 500 gained 1.2%, its biggest percentage gain in over a month, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7%.

However, despite that strong session, the major averages are on track for losses for the week as inflation fears hit sentiment, with the Dow and S&P both over 2% lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq down around 4.5%.

This week’s volatility has largely been as a result of a surge in inflation, with consumer prices rising at the fastest rate since 2008 and producer prices posting the biggest gain in over a decade.

However, Federal Reserve officials have been at pains to state that the central bank’s accommodative monetary policies will not be changing any time soon. At the same time, the economic outlook is improving and the earnings season has been stronger than expected, suggesting more equity gains are possible.

Ahead of the open, April retail sales are due at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), and the lingering effect of $1,400 stimulus checks will likely still be felt. While March's 9.7% gain won't be matched, economists are expecting another 1% bump.

Industrial production data and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment numbers are also on tap.

In the corporate sector, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) stock was substantially lower premarket after the entertainment giant’s popular streaming service, Disney+, failed to reach as many subscribers by early April as Wall Street had estimated.

Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) stock edged lower premarket after the online lodging service’s net loss tripled due to debt repayments and restructuring costs even as its gross bookings and revenue recovered in the first quarter.

Oil prices rebounded Friday along with other risk assets as traders digested the return to operations of the largest fuel pipeline in the United States, the ongoing Covid-19 crisis in India, the third largest oil consumer in the world, and a broadly positive assessment of the outlook for demand growth from the International Energy Agency earlier in the week.

U.S. crude futures traded 1.1% higher at $64.54 a barrel, having fallen 3.4% on Thursday, the biggest drop in more than a month. The Brent contract rose 1.2% to $67.86. Both contracts have fallen around 2% this week.

Additionally, gold futures rose 0.7% to $1,836.15/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.2115.

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