U.S. stock-index futures Wednesday traded lower ahead of a batch of economic reports, and as investors monitored Turkey’s continuing currency crisis.
Equity benchmarks posted modest gains in the prior session as a stabilization in a slide in Turkish liras helped to shift focus to domestic corporate results and economic data, which have so far been strong, according to market participants.
What are the main benchmarks doing?Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMU8, -0.26% were down 67 points, or 0.3%, to 25,227. Futures for the S&P 500 ESU8, -0.24% were off 6.25 points to 2,834.75, a drop of 0.1%. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 NQU8, -0.24% were down 14.25 points to 7,443.50, a decline of 0.2%.
In Wednesday’s session, major indexes closed solidly higher amid signs that the worst of the panic over Turkey’s currency crisis had abated, allowing investors to focus on a healthy domestic economy and strong corporate results.
What’s driving markets?Investors continued to monitor the currency crisis in Turkey, which many fear could spread and have a negative impact on regions with exposure to the country. While the Turkish economy is small, relative to other major markets, and few U.S. companies have significant direct exposure to it, the situation is seen as adding to the uncertain geopolitical environment, one highlighted by worsening trade relations between the U.S. and its major partners.
In the latest trade development, Turkey raised tariffs on a number of American products, in the latest escalation in tensions between the two countries. President Donald Trump raised duties on Turkish aluminum and steel last week; the latest tariffs from Turkey are in response to those “conscious attacks,” according to a translation of a tweet posted by Fuat Oktay, the country’s vice president.
On Wednesday, the Turkish lira TRYUSD, +3.0237% rose 3.8% against the dollar, bringing its week-to-date gain to nearly 5%, providing some signs that a 20% plunge in the currency to an all-time low against dollars in the past 30 days is moderating, allowing investors to focus on economic data and corporate profits, both of which have been pointing to improving economic conditions
What data are ahead? Reports on retail sales for July are due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, with a 0.1% rise expected, a 0.3% gain estimated, excluding auto sales, according to average analysts’ estimates surveyed by MarketWatch A reading of regional manufacturing for August, the Empire state index, also is due at 8:30 a.m. A reading on productivity and unit labor costs for the second quarter are due at the same time A report on industrial production for July is set to be released at 9:15 a.m., with a gain of 0.3% estimated A report on capacity utilization is slated for the same time, with a reading of 78.2% expected The home builders’ index for August is scheduled for 10 a.m. Data on business inventories also is set to be released at that time A weekly inventory report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due at 10:30 a.m. A report on Treasury International Capital, known as TIC, is scheduled to be released at 4 p.m. What stocks are in focus?Tesla Inc. TSLA, -2.46% could continue to be in focus after Bloomberg reported that Chief Executive Elon Musk hadn’t officially tapped Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, +1.19% as its financial adviser when he revealed plans last week to take the car maker private and said he had secured funding for the deal.
Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc. HMNY, +0.00% the parent company of MoviePass, lost millions of dollars in the second quarter as the subscription-movie offering sought to change its rules. The stock has plummeted 99.97% over the past three months.
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