By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica

Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares drop premarket

U.S. stock-index futures pointed to a lower open on Friday, suggesting the Dow's record-setting streak may be coming to an end as investors searched for reason to keep pushing shares higher following 10 straight positive sessions.

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. The Dow is currently on track for a 0.9% rise, while the S&P 500 is up 0.5% for the week. The Nasdaq is down less than 0.1%.

"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, as Trump's election spurred the market's recent advance with hopes of pro-growth policies on taxes and regulation, although few details have been released on those thus far. The president is expected to provide details on his highly anticipated tax reform proposals during the 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% 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). The retailer has been in focus (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nordstrom-recovers-from-trumps-terrible-tweet-in-just-4-minutes-2017-02-08) following a recent decision by the company to drop Ivanka Trump's fashion label, citing poor sales. President Trump, Ivanka's father, tweeted that the company was treating her "so unfairly," although the tweet didn't have a lasting negative impact on the stock.

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 08:24 ET (13:24 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more NVIDIA Charts.
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more NVIDIA Charts.