US pre-open: Futures in the red as major indices on track to retreat from record highs

Wall Street futures had stocks opening lower ahead of the bell on Friday as major indices looked set to retreat from their freshly recorded highs.

As of 1225 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.80%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.71% and 0.50% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 12.37 points lower on Thursday as major indices turned in a somewhat mixed performance on Joe Biden's first full day in the Oval Office.

Investor focus on Friday will still be firmly focussed on Washington DC as President Biden begins to lay the foundation of his Covid-19 and economic recovery agenda as aa number of Republicans have now expressed concerns over whether or not there was any need for another coronavirus stimulus package, particularly one with a hefty $1.9trn price tag.

Elsewhere, the Senate was expected to overwhelmingly confirm former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen as Biden's Treasury secretary later in the day, making her the first woman to head up the department.

As far as the Covid-19 pandemic is concerned, the US has now reported 25.19m cases of the coronavirus, claiming the lives of more than 420,280 Americans in the process.

On the macro front, a flash reading of IHS Markit's January manufacturing PMI will be published at 1445 GMT, while existing home sales for December will be released at 1500 GMT.