US pre-open: Stocks seen steady as investors eye data deluge
US futures pointed to a fairly steady open on Wall Street on Friday, with investors set to take the latest missile launch by North Korea in their stride as they looked ahead to a raft of data releases.
At 1220 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were off 0.1%.
Investors were expected to react with a certain degree of calm to news that North Korea has launched another missile over Japan. The missile was said to have travelled 3,700km before landing in the sea off Hokkaido, flying further and higher than the one fire over Japan last month. The launch comes just days after the UN Security Council approved fresh sanctions against Pyongyang for its nuclear test on 3 September.
IG analyst Joshua Mahony said: "Following a new set of sanctions, it seemed almost a foregone conclusion that we would see North Korea emerge with another test before long. Yet the fact that markets have chosen to brush aside this latest test is testament to how far market opinion has come after the hysteria of recent weeks."
In currency markets, the dollar tanked 1.3% to 0.7363 against the pound, which rocketed to its highest level since the Brexit vote after hawkish comments from Bank of England policymaker Gertjan Vlieghe reinforced expectations of a rate hike sooner than forecast. Speaking in London as part of the Society of Business Economists' annual conference, Vlieghe said interest rates could rise as soon as in the coming months.
There was little in the way of corporate news, but Oracle Corp shares were likely to be active after the software company’s outlook late on Thursday missed analysts' expectations.
On the data front, retail sales and Empire State manufacturing are due at 1330 BST, with industrial output at 1415 BST and University of Michigan consumer sentiment and business inventories at 1500 BST.
HSBC said the nominal value of retail auto sales has held up relatively well this year, even as the unit volume of new auto sales has declined.
"This has partly been due to a change in the mix of units sold, with sales of larger, more expensive vehicles outperforming sales of smaller vehicles. This phenomenon may have come to a halt in August, with auto manufacturers reporting a sizeable decline in light truck sales. We estimate retail sales were unchanged m-o-m in August, held back by weaker auto sales. We expect that ex-auto sales rose 0.5%, largely reflecting an increase in gasoline prices. We look for a 0.2% increase in 'control group' sales."