US pre-open: Higher start expected with Fed's Clarida in the spotlight
Wall Street was set for a slightly higher start at the end of the week, even as traders waited on a key vote in the UK Parliament at the weekend and despite mixed economic data out of China overnight.
Closer to home, the focus was expected to be on a speech from Federal Reserve vice chairman, Richard Clarida, at 1630 BST, that analysts said could push yields higher and on mixed set of corporate results ahead of the opening bell in New York.
Against that backdrop, strategists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said that "positive signs on the macro front" including the pause in the trade war escalation, a potential Brexit deal and the re-start of quantitative easing by the European Central Bank, "may spur a strong rally across cyclicals in Q4, supporting beta-driven fixed income assets (HY, EM debt), and ultimately equities".
Hedge fund boss Ray Dalio on the other hand was less effusive, reportedly having told an audience on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting to expect "a great sag" in the world economy, albeit not a market or economic crash.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrials were ahead by 19.0 points at 27,012.0, while those for the S&P 500 were up by 2.5 points to 3,000.50 and for the Nasdaq-100 by 2.25 to 7,955.0.
Data released overnight showed economic growth in China slowing to a year-on-year pace of 6.0% in the third quarter, which was a smidgen below forecasts and the slowest clip since the early 1990s.
No major economic releases were scheduled in the States for Friday.
However, a flurry of Fed speakers were set to take to the podium, including Dallas Fed chief, Robert Kaplan, at 1400 BST, followed by Esther George of the Kansas Fed at 1505 BST and Fed vice chairman, Richard Clarida, at 1630 BST.
"Markets will focus on remarks from Fed's Clarida ahead of the Fed blackout period, which begins late on Friday. With the market 80% priced for an October rate cut, any signal from Clarida that the Fed is finished with rate cuts could push yields higher," analysts at TD Securities said to clients in a research note.
"However, we expect the Vice-Chair to avoid committing to any course of action as the Fed remains data-dependent."
On the corporate front meanwhile, American Express posted third quarter earnings per share of $2.08 (consensus: $2.03) on the back of $11.0bn in sales (consensus: $10.94bn).
Coca Cola on the other hand only managed to meet analysts' estimates for third quarter adjusted EPS of $0.56, although on the top line it did manage a beat with revenues of $9.5bn (consensus: $9.45bn).