US pre-open: Stocks seen lower, Dow to break winning streak
Futures pointed to a slightly weaker open on Wall Street on Friday, with the Dow set to break its 10-day streak of record closes.
At 1100 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were down 0.2%, while Nasdaq futures were off 0.3%. On Thursday, stocks ended mixed, with the Dow notching its tenth straight record close, gaining 34.7 points to 20,810.3. The S&P finished up just 0.99 points at 2,363.81 and the Nasdaq fell 25.1 to 5,835.5.
Meanwhile, oil prices edged a little lower, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.4% to $54.22 a barrel and Brent crude 0.5% lower at $56.31.
ADS Securities researcher Konstantinos Anthis said: "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 FOMC member Fischer while President Trump's joint session before Congress on Tuesday is also highly important.
"It will be key to see whether the US President will continue on his highly optimistic tone over his proposed reforms or try to manage expectations as Secretary Mnuchin seems to be attempting."
Meanwhile, CMC Markets' Michael Hewson said: "Next week it will be three weeks since US President Trump promised something 'phenomenal' with respect to tax reform and it is becoming clear that investors are starting to become a little restless.
"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."
In corporate news, Hewlett Packard Enterprise fell sharply in pre-market trade after reporting lower sales than expected for the first quarter late on Thursday and cutting its earnings projections for the fiscal year.
RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, surged in pre-market trade after the furnishings retailer forecast higher-than-expected quarterly results late on Thursday.
JC Penney and Foot Locker were among the companies due to report earnings before the opening bell.
On the data front, University of Michigan consumer sentiment is at 1500 GMT, along with new home sales.