US pre-open: Futures mixed after Dow hits new intraday high

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were little changed ahead of the bell on Friday after the blue-chip index briefly crossed the psychologically important 40,000-point mark for the first time in its history. As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.03%, while S&P 500 futures were 0.02% weaker at Nasdaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.06% firmer.

The Dow closed 38.62 points lower on Thursday after sliding slightly from a fresh intraday high of 40,051.05.

Following this week's gains, major indices were now into positive territory for Q2 despite a rough start, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite up double-digits for the year.

Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "Yesterday saw US stock indices pull back from their intra-day highs to close modestly lower. All the majors are flat in early trade, with little in the way of data or earnings to influence direction. Yet it has been a week of milestones which has seen the S&P 500 cross above 5,300, the Dow trade over 40,000 and the NASDAQ 100 break above 18,500 (a touch less noteworthy) all for the first time. Investors continue to build long-side exposure, despite having to trim back their expectations for rate cuts this year. Recent fears that the Fed may have to hike rates first to counter stubbornly high inflation have largely dissipated. This follows the dovish statement and press conference from the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting at the beginning of this month, along with softer-than-expected unemployment data.

"Investors have been keen to jump on positive news while ignoring anything that could upset the bullish narrative. This week's PPI and CPI data wasn't great. But the fact that CPI matched expectations with a modest year-on-year dip from the prior month was enough to keep the rally going. Meanwhile, a cautionary speech yesterday from Fed member Loretta Mester warning of increased risks to the Fed's inflation goal was largely ignored. Going into the weekend, the CME's FedWatch Tool shows that 'real money' expects the US central bank to cut rates by 25 basis points in September, with a repeat in December. If so, that would mean that the Fed would be following in the footsteps of both the ECB and Bank of England who are forecast to make their first cuts in June and August respectively."

On the macro front, Federal Reserve bankers Neel Kashkari, Christopher Waller, and Mary Daly will deliver speeches throughout the course of the day.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com