WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After recovering from an early downturn and ending the previous session roughly flat, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.
Stock futures had come under pressure earlier in the morning amid a negative reaction to earnings news from several big-name companies.
Financial giants Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WFC) continue to see notable pre-market weakness after reporting their fourth quarter results.
UnitedHealth (UNH) has also slumped even though the health insurance giant reported fourth quarter results that beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
On the other hand, shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) have jumped after the financial giant reported a record annual profit.
The futures have bounced back near the unchanged line following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the month of December.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand slipped by 0.1 percent in December, matching a revised dip in November.
Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of producer price growth accelerated to 1.0 percent in December from a downwardly revised 0.8 percent in November.
The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to speed up to 1.3 percent from the 0.9 percent originally reported for the previous month.
The data may lead to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates following yesterday's report showing consumer prices rose by slightly more than expected in December.
After turning lower over the course of morning trading on Thursday, stocks staged a notable recovery attempt in the latter part of the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, eventually closing roughly flat.
The Dow fell as much as 270 points but rebounded to end the day up 15.29 points or less than tenth of a percent at 37,711.02. The Nasdaq also crept up 0.54 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 14,970.19, but the S&P 500 edged down 3.21 points or 0.1 percent at 4,780.24.
In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved lower on Friday, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index extended its recent rally and jumped by 1.5 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has climbed by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.8 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are surging $2.31 to $74.33 a barrel after climbing $0.65 to $72.02 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after falling $8.60 to $2,019.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are spiking $40.70 to $2,059.90 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 144.82 yen versus the 145.29 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0956 compared to yesterday's $1.0972.
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