US pre-open: Fed honeymoon period over

US stock futures were down on Friday, with the Fed hike honeymoon period coming to an end and new easing measures announced in Japan.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open down around 75 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both set to begin the session eight points lower.

The economic calendar ends with week with only a few announcements – the Markit service and composite PMI is due at 1445 GMT, while the Baker Hughes Rig Count is due at 1800 GMT.

Surprise Japan decision sends Asia markets into decline

Elsewhere, surprise measures from the Bank of Japan to boost its economy had Asian markets stunned on Friday.

The central bank announced new measures, which would supplement its easing programme, including a plan to purchase exchange-traded stock funds worth up to JPY300bn (£1.66bn).

Initial reactions on Japanese markets were positive, but that excitement quickly subsided as the relative scale of the programme, when compared to the country's lengthy economic struggle, caused many analysts to question its probable effectiveness.

"They're all helpful measures, but they won't make much difference in practice", said Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics.

He described the additional stock funds purchases as "miniscule".

Other analysts described the move as a technical measure, rather than additional easing.

Shingo Ide of the NLI Research Institute said that given Japanese stocks were trading up to 15% higher than 12 months ago, the Bank of Japan needed to but more exchange-traded stock funds for its easing to have the same effect.

European stocks were down after likely profit taking from Thursday’s rally on the back of the Fed decision.

Oil prices sank again, with Brent down 0.54% to $36.86 - the lowest level since December 2008 - and WTI Crude below $35 a barrel again, down 1.32% to $34.49.

The dollar was down against all the main currencies, dropping 0.05% and 013% on the euro and the pound respectively, while it dropped 1.15% against the yen on the back of the Bank of Japan’s new measures. Spot gold was up 0.62% to $1,057.65.

In company news, analysts will be keeping an eye on Bristol-Myers Squibb shares after GlaxoSmithKline announced it would be buying a number of its HIV assets.

Wells Fargo is expected to move after Zurich Insurance’s US subsidiary announced it will buy its crop insurance business and its subsidiary for up to $1.05bn (£700m).

And Red Hat is expected to open up 4% after the open-source software provider posted results late Thursday that beat expectations.