US pre-open: Futures fall as Nike, FedEx disappoint
US stock futures were pointing to further losses on Friday with sentiment being weighed down by ongoing fears about economic growth and a negative reaction to earnings from a number of blue chips.
Nike, Micron Technology and FedEx were all falling sharply in pre-market trade after releasing their quarterly results after the closing bell on Thursday.
By 0705 in New York, Dow and S&P 500 futures were down 0.3% while the Nasdaq was falling 0.4%.
Markets fell on Thursday, trading close to their lowest levels in six months, as investors digested a scaling back of economic growth projections and a dialling up of inflation forecasts by the Federal Reserve.
While no major economic data was on the docket for Friday, Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that Thursday's jobless claims figures – which showed claims were more or less unchanged last week – were still dampening the mood.
"US futures are pointing down again after this week’s mini rally petered out yesterday. While a small rise in US jobless claims hasn’t caused much of a surprise, the data showed that claimants were taking longer to find new employment than the same period last year," Nathan said.
"Not all the layoffs sanctioned by Elon Musk’s DoGE will have showed up in the numbers yet. Investors are likely to remain highly sensitive to US jobs numbers in the months ahead."
In equity news, Nike was down more than 6% in pre-market trade after the sporting goods behemoth underwhelmed with forecast-beating third-quarter results. While Nike comfortably topped estimates, sales still fell 9% year-on-year, and the company pointed to a further revenue slide in the fourth quarter and lower margins than last year.
Micron Technology was falling 3% despite the data storage outfit beating second-quarter estimates for both revenues and profits and providing stronger-than-expected guidance for the current quarter.
Meanwhile, FedEx futures were down nearly 8% after the shipping and logistics giant cut its annual guidance and posted adjusted EPS of $4.51 for its third quarter, lower than the $4.54 expected by the market.
Airline stocks including American, United and JetBlue and were also set to fall after Heathrow, the world's second-busiest airport, was forced to cancel flights and shut its doors to passengers following a power outage.