By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stock futures fell Friday, as investors continued to eye
deliberations about Greece's bailout, with major indexes poised to
end the week nearly flat.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 28 points, or 0.2%, to
17931. S&P 500 futures lost five points, or 0.2%, to 2090, and
Nasdaq-100 futures gave up three points, or 0.1%, to 4410. Changes
in stock futures don't always accurately predict moves in the stock
market after the opening bell.
For the week, the Dow has lost 0.2% and the S&P has added
less than 0.1%, through Thursday's close.
Stocks were also quiet in Europe and Asia, where many markets
were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Moves have been muted
in recent sessions as Greece and its creditors argue over a new
financing deal. On Thursday, Germany rejected a Greek proposal to
extend its bailout program. Eurozone ministers will meet Friday for
continued negotiations, and many investors say that a deal will
eventually be reached that will prevent Greece from leaving the
eurozone.
European stocks fell, with France's CAC 40 down 0.8% and
Germany's DAX falling 0.1%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.4%
to hit another 15-year high.
Global stocks have hit multiyear highs or records in recent
sessions, supported by easing actions at central banks. The Stoxx
Europe 600 closed at its highest level since late 2007 on Thursday,
while the DAX ended at a fresh record on Thursday, its 13th for the
year. The Nasdaq is trading at a 15-year high.
"I can't underscore enough the significance of this ECB
quantitative easing program," said Greg Sarian, managing director
and partner at HighTower Advisors. "You now have all the major
central banks around the world keeping rates low," he said, which
will help stocks outperform bonds again this year.
Even when the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, if the pace
is modest, it shouldn't prevent U.S. stocks from notching gains for
the year, he added.
U.S. oil prices rebounded after two days of losses, with
crude-oil futures adding 0.4% to $52.04 a barrel. Gold futures rose
0.5% to $1,213.10 an ounce.
Treasury prices inched higher, pushing the 10-year note yield
down to 2.078% from 2.112% on Thursday.
Among individual stocks, the Federal Trade Commission sued
Thursday to block Sysco Corp.'s acquisition of US Foods Inc. The
companies are the nation's two largest food distributors, and the
FTC alleged that the proposed deal would create a dominant national
company. Sysco shares were inactive in premarket trade.
Deere & Co. continued to see weak global demand for its farm
equipment in the most recent quarter, with sales dropping 17%.
Shares fell 1.1% premarket.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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