US open: Stocks struggle for direction amid mixed data

Shortly after 1400 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 14 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were points two points lower and one point higher respectively.

Mixed economic data

According to figures released by the Commerce Department, spending rose 0.1% month-on-month in September compared with a 0.4% increase in August and with analysts’ expectations for a 0.2% gain.

Spending on durable goods and services rose 0.6% and 0.3% respectively, while purchases of non-durable goods such as gas declined 0.3%.

“With the labour market approaching full employment, we still anticipate that rising wage growth and underlying inflation will be the big surprise next year, eventually forcing the Fed to hike interest rate more aggressively,” said Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics.

“But that clearly hasn’t happened yet, which is why the first rate hike is probably going to be delayed until early next year.”

Elsewhere, according to the latest University of Michigan reading, the index monitoring consumer sentiment increased to 90.0 from .92.1 in September, falling short of the 92.5 reading analyst had expected.

Meanwhile, the Chicago PMI, surged back into positive territory in October, rising to a level of 56.2 from 48.7 in September, the highest level since January.

LinkedIn surges

On the company front, Valeant Pharmaceuticals plunged 6.47% after saying it will part ways with mail-order pharmacy unit Philidor Rx Services.

LinkedIn surged 12.3% after positing better-than-expected results late on Thursday and lifting its full-year forecast, while Starbucks rose 1.10% reporting a surge in profit driven by growth at its US stores.

Among the companies that reported before the bell, CVS Health fell 6.63% after a downbeat profit outlook, while Colgate Palmolive declined 2.59% after posting a fifth straight decline in quarterly sales.

Oil giant Exxon slid 0.09% after reporting that third quarter profit and sales fell less than expected, while sector peer Chevron rose 0.44% after the company beat profit and sales expectations.

Most Asian equity markets ended the week on a downbeat note, after the Bank of Japan refrained from implementing fresh stimulus measures, while European stocks edged lower on profit taking.

The dollar was on the back foot against the main currencies, losing 0.48% against the yen and falling 0.37% and 0.62% against the pound and the euro respectively, while gold futures shed 0.25% to $1,143.07.

Oil prices edged lower, with West Texas Intermediate falling 0.79% to $45.70 a barrel, while Brent slid 0.08% to $48.76 a barrel.