US pre-open: Dow Jones on track for eight-straight losing week despite pre-market gains

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Friday after China cut a key interest rate but the Dow Jones was still firmly on track to register its eighth-consecutive losing week.

As of 1210 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.91%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 1.08% and 1.46% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 236.94 points lower on Thursday as softer-than-expected earnings from big-name retailers continued to weigh on sentiment.

Futures seemed to get a slight boost after China cut its key benchmark mortgage interest rate overnight after Covid-related shutdowns pounded the country's economy.

The People's Bank of China cut the five-year loan prime rate - its mortgage reference rate - by a bigger-than-expected 15 basis points, to 4.45%, and left the one-year rate unchanged at 3.7%. Analysts had been expecting a five basis points reduction across both tenures.

Markets.com's Neil Wilson said: "China's decision to cut its five-year loan prime rate, a reference rate for mortgages, helped boost risk sentiment going Friday's session. The 15 basis point cut lifted Asian markets and there is a decent follow-through at the start of European trade, with London and Frankfurt both up around 1.5%.

"US stock markets were far calmer yesterday albeit all the major indices except the small-cap Russell 2000 registered declines. On the S&P 500, Thursday's low held, which will give some confidence to the bulls who are attempting to call the bottom. Futures point to a higher open today in the US."

In the corporate space, sportswear retailer Foot Locker posted first-quarter earnings of $133.0m ahead of the bell, beating Wall Street expectations, while revenues of $2.17bn fell short of consensus estimates.

No major data points were slated for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com