US Stock Futures Point to More Losses as Oil Falls Again
New York (Dec 11) US stock futures pointed to another day in the red, the fourth down session of the week, as oil prices tumbled again.
S&P 500 futures were down 0.8%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 0.91%, and Nasdaq futures fell 0.85%.
Crude oil prices threatened to dip below $36 a barrel on Friday on concerns demand for the commodity would fall next year. The International Energy Agency warned the "first signs of a slowdown" in global oil demand were seen in the current quarter in the face of an "unrelenting" oversupply of crude.
Oil prices on Thursday closed at their lowest level since before the Great Recession as commodity traders continued to worry over the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision to leave production at record highs. West Texas Intermediate crude oil on Friday fell 1.4% to $36.23 a barrel.
The retail sector will be in focus Friday morning ahead of U.S. retail sales data for November out before the bell. Economists expect sales to increase 0.3% over the month. Winter clothing sales are expected to come in weaker due to unseasonably warm weather in the U.S.
Dow Chemical (DOW) and DuPont (DD) officially announced Friday they would merge. The new chemicals company will be called DowDuPont until splitting into three separate publicly traded companies around 18 months to two years after the merger is finalized. The companies expect to reap $3 billion in synergies over the next two years.
Ford (F - Get Report) shares were on watch after the company announced it will invest another $4.5 billion into electric vehicles by 2020. The automaker expects more than 40% of its models to be electrified by that deadline.
Restoration Hardware (RH - Get Report) shares fell 1% in premarket trading despite earnings jumping 37% from a year earlier. The home restoration retailer earned 65 cents in its third quarter, 2 cents above estimates. The company also increased the low-end of full-year guidance.
Adobe (ADBE - Get Report) rose after reporting a double-digit percentage increase in sales in its fourth quarter. The software developer earned 62 cents a share, 2 cents above forecasts, while revenue surged 22.4%.
Finisar (FNSR - Get Report) moved sharply higher before the bell after beating quarterly estimates. The networking tech developer said it had seen strong demand for Ethernet transceivers among other products offered to telecom clients.
United Technologies (UTX - Get Report) climbed 1% after announcing a $1.5 billion restructuring plan, which is expected to produce $900 million in savings when completed. The plan will run through 2018. Restructuring charges this fiscal year will increase to $400 million, up from a previous $300 million.
Source: TheStreet
