NVDA NVIDIA Corporation

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares drop premarket

Wall Street stocks looked set for a lower open on Friday, jeopardizing the Dow's record-setting streak as investors hunted for cues that could push equity benchmarks higher to end the week.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 82 points, or 0.4%, to 20,715. The Dow's gain on Thursday was its 10th in a row as well as its 10th straight record closing high (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-eyes-10th-day-of-gains-as-us-stock-futures-rise-on-back-of-oil-rally-2017-02-23)--the longest such streak since 1987.

Futures for the S&P 500 fell 10.55 points, or 0.4%, to 2,352.50 on Friday, while those for the Nasdaq-100 lost 29 points, or 0.5%, to 5,303.

"Fresh record highs in the U.S. stock markets are no longer surprising. [On the] contrary, they gradually increase the anxiety in the market. Nobody knows when and how the reflation story [will] end," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at London Capital Group, in a note.

In Thursday's action, the S&P 500 managed to eke out a 0.99 point gain, while the Nasdaq Composite ended 0.4% lower, pressured by Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Tesla Inc. (TSLA).

For the holiday-shortened week, both the Dow and S&P were set for gains as of Thursday's close, while the Nasdaq was eyeing a weekly loss.

"Biding their time": Premarket trading was muted with little in the way of top-tier earnings reports or economic releases ahead on Friday.

"It is conceivable that market participants are biding their time at this point, waiting for next week's Fed speeches from Fed Chairwoman Yellen and [Federal Open Market Committee] member Fischer," said Konstantinos Anthis, markets researcher at ADS Securities, in a note. Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen and Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer are slated to speak on Friday next week.

Anthis said President Donald Trump's highly anticipated address to Congress on Feb. 28 also is on investors' minds. The president is expected to provide details on his highly anticipated tax reform proposals during that address.

Investors will be listening to hear whether Trump will keep up his "highly optimistic tone" on his proposed reforms, or whether he will try to manage expectations, as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appears to be doing, he said.

"If we don't get further detail by the time President Trump addresses a joint sitting of Congress on Tuesday, 28th February, then the rally that we've seen in the past three months could become susceptible to some profit-taking," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

(http://projects.marketwatch.com/2017/trump-today-signup/)

Read:Mnuchin in no rush to label China a currency manipulator (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mnuchin-in-no-rush-to-label-china-a-currency-manipulator-2017-02-23)

And see:Doubts persist about tax timing as Trump meets with CEOs (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/doubts-persist-about-tax-timing-as-trump-meets-with-ceos-2017-02-23)

Read:Doubts persist about tax timing as Trump meets with CEOs (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/doubts-persist-about-tax-timing-as-trump-meets-with-ceos-2017-02-23)

Economic news: Readings on new-home sales for January and consumer sentiment for February are both due at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

In the afternoon, the weekly U.S. rig count from Baker Hughes Inc.(BHI) will be released. Last week, the closely watched report showed the tally has risen (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-oil-experts-think-opecs-us-headache-wont-go-away-this-year-2017-02-20) for five straight weeks, leaving the count at the highest level since October 2015.

Read: Why oil experts think OPEC's U.S. headache won't go away this year (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-oil-experts-think-opecs-us-headache-wont-go-away-this-year-2017-02-20)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-oil-experts-think-opecs-us-headache-wont-go-away-this-year-2017-02-20)Crude oil was down 0.7% at $54.07 on Friday, while Brent traded 0.7% lower at $56.40. The U.S. oil benchmark on Thursday closed at its highest level since July 2015 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-regain-momentum-us-supply-data-ahead-2017-02-23), boosted by a smaller-than-expected rise in crude inventories.

Stock movers: Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.(HPE) slumped 6.7% in premarket action after the IT company late Thursday reported lower sales than expected (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hewlett-packard-enterprise-falls-after-revenue-miss-slashed-earnings-forecast-2017-02-23) and cut its earnings projections for the fiscal year.

Shares of RH(RH), the company formerly known as Restoration Hardware, jumped 15% early Friday. The high-end home furnishings retailer late Thursday forecast higher-than-expected quarterly results (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rh-shares-rally-on-higher-than-expected-forecast-2017-02-23).

Nordstrom Inc.(JWN) rallied 6.4% after the department store chain late Thursday reported earnings that beat forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nordstrom-shares-rise-after-retailer-beats-earnings-expectations-2017-02-23).

Foot Locker Inc.(FL) gained 1.8% after the shoe retailer reported profit that beat forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/foot-locker-profit-and-sales-rise-above-expectations-2017-02-24).

J.C. Penney Co. Inc.(JCP) added 3.6%, also after releasing results.

Other markets:Asian stock markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-dip-as-investors-cash-out-after-dovish-fed-minutes-2017-02-23) closed mostly lower, with Europe following the same trend in the early going.

Metals rose across the board, with silver on track for a ninth straight weeks of gains.

The ICE Dollar index was down 0.2% at 100.81.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2017 07:31 ET (12:31 GMT)

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