The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a mixed opening on Friday, with stocks likely to continue experiencing choppy trading following the lackluster performance seen in the previous session.
Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the second round of trade talks between the U.S. and China.
Various news outlets said China had offered to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. by $200 billion, although Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang denied the reports.
"This rumor is not true. This, I can confirm," Lu told reporters. "I do not know about the offers made by either party."
He added, "As we know the consultations are still underway. I am not getting ahead of that. The consultations themselves are constructive."
After ending Wednesday's trading mostly higher, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing modestly lower.
The major averages ended the day in negative territory but off their lows of the session. The Dow dipped 54.95 points or 0.2 percent to 24,713.98, the Nasdaq slipped 15.82 points or 0.2 percent to 7,382.47 and the S&P 500 edged down 2.33 points or 0.1 percent to 2,720.13.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the second round of trade talks between the U.S. and China.
Blaming the trade policies of previous administrations, President Donald Trump expressed some doubt about whether the high-level trade talks with China will be successful.
Trump told reporters he tends to doubt the talks will be successful in remarks during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
"The reason I doubt it is because China has become very spoiled," Trump said. "The European Union has become very spoiled. Other countries have become very spoiled, because they always got 100 percent of whatever they wanted from the United States."
However, Trump also claimed he would not allow the U.S. to be taken advantage of anymore and sounded more optimistic in later remarks.
"I can only tell you this; we're going to come out fine with China," Trump said. "Hopefully, China's going to be happy. I think we will be happy."
The comments from Trump come as Chinese officials have traveled to Washington for a second round of trade talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and others.
On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing a continued increase by its index of leading economic indicators.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index rose by 0.4 percent in April, matching the upwardly revised increase in March as well as economist estimates.
Ataman Ozyildirim, Director of Business Cycles and Growth Research at the Conference Board, said, "April's increase and continued uptrend in the U.S. LEI suggest solid growth should continue in the second half of 2018."
"However, the LEI's six-month growth rate has recently moderated somewhat, suggesting growth is unlikely to strongly accelerate," he added.
Before the start of trading, the Labor Department released a report showing a bigger than expected increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended May 12th.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 222,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 211,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000.
Meanwhile, a separate report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve unexpectedly showed a significant acceleration in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of May.
Among individual stocks, shares of J.C. Penney (JCP) moved sharply lower after the department store chain reported a narrower than expected first quarter adjusted loss but cut its full-year earnings guidance.
Retail giant Wal-Mart (WMT) also moved to the downside on the day despite reporting first quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
On the other hand, shares of Dillard's (DDS) jumped after the department store operator reported first quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates.
Most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.
Energy stocks saw considerable strength, however, with the sector continuing to perform well even as the price of crude oil pulled back off its early highs.
Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index advanced by 1.8 percent, while the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index climbed by 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Brokerage and housing stocks also saw modest strength on the day, while utilities stocks extended the downward move seen over the past few sessions.
Commodity, Currency Markets
Crude oil futures are slipping $0.11 to $71.38 a barrel after coming in unchanged at $71.49 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after dipping $2.10 to $1,289.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are falling $2.80 to $1,286.60 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 110.93 yen compared to the 110.77 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1779 compared to yesterday's $1.1795.
Asia
Asian markets mostly ended higher on Friday, although investors were largely reluctant to make significant moves due to tensions on the Korean Peninsula and concerns about a trade war between the U.S. and China.
The Japanese market ended on a firm note, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index climbing 91.99 points or 0.4 percent to 22,930.36, its highest closing level since early February.
A weaker yen and rising U.S. bond yields contributed to the positive close in Tokyo. However, the market's gains were on relatively thin volumes.
Chinese stocks also moved to the upside on the day. China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 38.76 points or 1.2 percent to 3,193.05, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 105.76 points or 0.3 percent to 31,047.91.
Energy, financial and insurance stocks were among the most prominent gainers.
Meanwhile, Australian stocks ended slightly lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index edged down 6.90 points or 0.1 percent to 6087.40. The broader All Ordinaries Index also dipped 0.1 percent to 6190.90.
NB Holdings, Galaxy Resources, IPH, A2 Milk Company, Nanosonics, Galaxy Resources, Vocus Group, Medibank, Bellamys Australia and Regis Resources declined 3 to 5.4 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Bank, Bank of Queensland and Westpac ended notably lower, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia climbed by 0.8 percent.
Europe
European markets are modestly higher Friday morning amid concerns about a trade war and geopolitical issues. With energy stocks finding some support thanks to higher crude oil prices, major markets in the region look set to end another week on a firm note.
Awaiting the outcome of trade talks between the U.S. and China, traders are largely tracking quarterly earnings reports for direction.
While the French CAC 40 Index is just below the unchanged line, the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent.
AstraZenca has come under pressure after the drug maker reported a 37 percent drop in first quarter profits.
According to data released by Destatis today, German consumer price inflation unexpectedly accelerated in April, albeit marginally. Producer price inflation rose to 2.0 percent in April from 1.9 percent in March. Meanwhile, the rate was forecast to slow to 1.8 percent.
On a monthly basis, producer prices climbed 0.5 percent from March, when prices edged up by 0.1 percent. Prices were expected to rise by 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, German wholesale price inflation accelerated to 1.4 percent in April from 1.2 percent in March. On a monthly basis, wholesale prices rose 0.5 percent.
A report from Eurostat said Eurozone construction output fell for the third straight month in March, declining 0.3 percent following a 0.7 percent decrease in February.
On a yearly basis, growth in construction output improved to 0.8 percent in March from 0.2 percent in February, revised down from 0.4 percent.
U.S. Economic Reports
At 9:15 am ET, Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan is due to participate in a moderated Q&A at the 12th Annual University of Texas at Dallas Project Management Symposium in Richardson, Texas.
Fed Governor Lael Brainard is also due to speak on Community Reinvestment Act Modernization at the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development's 8th Annual Community Development Conference in New York, at 9:15 am ET.
Stocks In Focus
Shares of AmTrust Financial Services (AFSI) are moving significantly higher in pre-market trading after activist investor Carl Icahn revealed a nearly 9.4 percent stake in the insurer and said he opposes a plan to take the company private.
Agricultural equipment manufacturer Deere & Co. (DE) may also move to the upside after reporting weaker than expected adjusted fiscal second quarter earnings but raising its full-year guidance.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) are also seeing pre-market strength after Cowen initiated coverage of both chipmaker's stocks with Outperform ratings.
On the other hand, shares of Applied Materials (AMAT) may come under pressure after the semiconductor equipment maker reported better than expected fiscal second quarter results but provided disappointing revenue guidance.
Department store operator Nordstrom (JWN) is also moving lower in pre-market trading after reporting first quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates but weaker than expected same-store sales growth.
Shares of Campbell Soup (CPB) are also likely to move to the downside after the canned soup maker lowered its full-year earnings guidance despite reporting better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings. Campbell also announced the abrupt retirement of its CEO.
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