Jacob Sonenshine
Stocks were set for a mostly lower open on Friday, as concerns around weaker-than-expected economic growth continued to mount.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 62 points, or 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% and Nasdaq Composite futures rose 0.1%.
Friday, more evidence of disappointing economic growth and high inflation emerged. Retail sales in the U.K. rose 2.4% year-over-year, missing the 6% forecast. Meanwhile, Germany's producer-price index rose 10.4% year-over-year, higher than estimates of 9.2%. That comes after U.S. retail sales missed estimates earlier this week.
Factories around the world aren't fully functioning and ports in China have been closing because of safety restrictions, making it hard for companies to access supplies. That's contributing to cost inflation for companies, which are raising selling prices.
Meanwhile, the Fed's July meeting minutes indicated the central bank is close to reducing the size of its bond buying program. Less money moving into the bond market lowers bond prices, lifts their yields and makes borrowing more difficult.
"Investors have understandably been worrying about the Federal Reserve's potential tapering plans," writes Rod von Lipsey, managing director of UBS Private Wealth Management.
Here are five stocks making moves in Friday's premarket action:
$Foot Locker Inc(FL.US)$) stock rose 6.6% after reporting a profit of $2.21 a share, beating estimates of $1.01 a share, on sales of $2.3 billion, above expectations for $2.1 billion.
$Deere & Co(DE.US)$ stock gained 1.2% after reporting a profit of $5.32 a share, beating estimates of $4.58 a share, on sales of $10.4 billion, above expectations for $10.3 billion.
$Applied Materials Inc(AMAT.US)$ stock gained 0.5% after reporting a profit of $1.90 a share, beating estimates of $1.77 a share, on sales of $6.2 billion, above expectations for $5.9 billion.
$Ross Stores Inc(ROST.US)$ stock fell 4.6% after reporting a profit of $1.39 a share, beating estimates of 96 cents a share, on sales of $4.8 billion, above expectations for $4.5 billion.
$Workday Inc(WDAY.US)$ stock rose 1.3% after Oppenheimer resumed coverage with an outperform rating.
Write to Jacob Sonenshine at jacob.sonenshine@barrons.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 20, 2021 09:04 ET (13:04 GMT)
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