(Updates with economic data, recent oil price movement, world markets' overview and corporate stock movements.)
US equity futures were mostly unchanged pre-bell Friday as traders evaluated the lack of clues from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh regarding another interest rate hike.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.1% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.1% lower.
At a fireside chat during the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Warsh declined to indicate the likely outcome of the Fed's October interest rate meeting while acknowledging the "synchronous tightening" by central banks around the world, CNBC reported.
The CME FedWatch tool showed the probability of the Federal Reserve raising its target rate by 25 basis points in October is at 16.1%, down from 27.7% on Thursday.
Traders also digested the latest round of corporate earnings, with Travelers (TRV) reporting higher core income and lower revenue for Q3.
Oil prices were slighly lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude flat at $105.93 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 0.3% lower at $97.68 per barrel.
US import prices rose 1.1% in September, slightly above the 1% gain expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and the prior 0.5% increase in August. US export prices rose 2.2% in September, compared with the 1.2% increase in the prior month and expectations for a 0.9% gain.
The September industrial production report, due at 9:15 am ET, is projected to show a 0.4% gain after holding steady in the prior month.
In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.4% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.5% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.2% higher. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was up 0.1%, and Germany's DAX index was 0.9% higher in Europe's early afternoon session.
In equities, Tesla (TSLA) shares rose 3.3% after the company unveiled its new Roadster capable of flight using cold-gas thrusters. Toyota Motor (TM) stock was up 1.1% after a Bloomberg report that the company aims to use its own gigacasting technology to make electric vehicles at a $2 billion Lexus factory in China as part of its efforts to overhaul its manufacturing system to improve efficiency and competitiveness. Equinor (EQNR) shares climbed 1.9% after Odfjell Drilling said the company exercised options for two additional wells for the Deepsea Atlantic, extending its firm contract to late Q4 2027.
On the losing side, Travelers shares fell 3.4% after the company posted its Q3 financial results. Stocks of Micron Technology (MU), AMD (AMD), and Intel (INTC) were lower as part of a broader downswing in the semiconductor industry. Micron Technology shares dropped 2%, AMD stock was down 1.8%, and Intel shares declined by 1.4%.
Comments