US pre-open: Futures in the green ahead of retail sales report
Wall Street futures had stocks opening higher ahead of the bell on Friday as major indices looked set to register a second straight day of gains after a lacklustre start to the week and ahead of some key retail sales data.
As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.47%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.66% and 1.14% firmer, respectively.
The Dow Jones closed 433.79 points higher on Friday, clawing back some of the losses recorded earlier in the week.
Tech stocks were in focus prior to the open, with Tesla, Twitter, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet all trading higher. However, going the other way, Disney shares were in the red after posting quarterly revenue and subscriber growth that fell short of expectations on the Street.
Market participants also as made moves on reopening plays like United Airlines, American Airlines and Boeing after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed guidelines yesterday, stating that in the majority of circumstances, fully vaccinated Americans would no longer be required to wear masks indoors or outdoors.
Food delivery firm DoorDash and clothing retailer Farfetch were also both trading higher on the back of their latest quarterly results overnight, while Airbnb stock lost ground despite reporting a surge in holiday bookings amid easing Covid-19 restrictions.
On the macro front, Thursday's primary focus will be the April retail sales report, slated for release at 1430 BST. Many analysts expect consumer spending to have risen again in April, albeit at a slower pace than in the previous month when stimulus checks landed in American's accounts.
Elsewhere, last month's industrial production figures and a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's May consumer sentiment index will follow at 1515 BST and 1600 BST, respectively.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note also eased to around 1.645% after spiking on the back of Wednesday's higher-than-expected inflation reading.