US open: Stocks on the back foot as Dow edges away from record close
US stocks were on the back foot on Friday, tracking their European peers as the Dow looked set to break its run of 10 consecutive record closes.
On Thursday, stocks ended mixed, with the Dow notching its tenth straight record close and its longest streak since 1987, 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.
At 1552 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.25% to 20,757.70, the S&P 500 fell 0.27% to 2,357.35 and the Nasdaq was 0.3% weaker at 5,817.75.
Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate was down 0.49% to $54.18 per barrel and Brent crude fell 0.71% to $56.18.
In currency markets, the dollar was up 0.53% against the pound to 0.8007, was flat versus the euro at 0.9455 and fell 0.27% against the yen to 112.31.
Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets, said US markets were set to open lower after Thursday’s comments from US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin tempered expectations about an imminent fiscal and tax plan.
“This change of tone makes next week’s speech by US President Donald Trump much more significant in the context of what we can expect to see in the next few months, with any disappointment likely to exacerbate some of the doubts that appear to be creeping in about the new administration's ability to deliver on their promises.
“That’s always the trouble with raising expectations to unrealistic levels; the readjustment process can be quite sudden when the sugar rush wears off.”
In corporate news, Hewlett Packard Enterprise fell 8.88% after reporting lower sales than expected for the first quarter late on Thursday and cutting its earnings projections for the fiscal year.
RH, formerly Restoration Hardware, surged 20.33% after the furnishings retailer forecast higher-than-expected quarterly results late on Thursday.
Foot Locker climbed 7.19% as the retailer beat quarterly profit forecasts,
Department store chain Nordstrom gained 5.8% as it also beat earnings expectations late on Thursday, whereas JC Penney tumbled 8.61% after it reported a drop in sales and said it will close up to 140 stores in the next few months.
On the data front, US consumer sentiment weakened in February, according to the final reading from the University of Michigan.
The consumer sentiment index printed at 96.3, better than the preliminary estimate of 95.7 but below January's 13-year high of 98.5 and the reading of 91.7 in February 2016. Analysts had expected a reading of 96.0.
Meanwhile, the current economic conditions index nudged up to 111.5 in February from 111.3 the previous month and 106.8 in the same month last year. The index of consumer expectations fell to 86.5 from 90.3 in January, but was up from 81.9 in February 2016.
Elsewhere, figures from the Commerce Department showed new home sales in January were up 3.7% from December's revised rate of 535,000 to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 555,000, and 5.5% above the January 2016 level. Analysts had been expecting a bigger jump on the month to 570,000.
The December reading was revised down a touch from a previous estimate of 536,000.