U.S. Stock Futures Drop As a Skittish Market Waits for GDP Data

U.S. Stock Futures Drop As A Skittish Market Waits For GDP Data

U.S. stock futures were struggling to contain losses on Friday, pressured by European declines and some jitters ahead of revised growth data.

European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-drop-as-gree ce-worries-persist-but-stocks-looking-at-monthly- win-2015-05-29) fell as a deadline approached for Greece to make a debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YMM5) fell 66 points, or 0.4%, to 18,067, while those for the S&P 500 index (YMM5) dropped around 6.45 points, or 0.3%, to 2,115. Losses were slightly bigger for Nasdaq-100 index (NQM5) futures, which lost 20.50 points, or 0.5%, to 4,523.

Concerns about an interest-rate hike this year continued to chip away at Wall Street on Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rate-hike-fears-hamper-appet ite-for-us-stock-futures-2015-05-28), leaving moderate declines across the board. As May draws to a close, however, the S&P 500 (SPX) is up 1.7% for the month, while the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) has gained more than 3%. The week has largely been a losing one for stocks, outside of a slight gain for the Nasdaq.

Investors are waiting for revised first-quarter gross domestic product data (GDP), due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Economists expect growth to be downgraded from an earlier estimate of 0.2% gain to a fall of 1%. That’s “bad for the dollar, potentially good for the Dow and an interesting complication for the Fed,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

Read: Fatal flaw in GDP? Investors latch onto new tool to track economy (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-tool-to-track-gdp-may-ca use-as-much-problems-as-it-solves-2015-05-27)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-tool-to-track-gdp-may-ca use-as-much-problems-as-it-solves-2015-05-27)But stock futures were still pointing to a rough day for Wall Street, an indication of just how jittery this market is right now, as it tries to second-guess a Fed move. Wouter Sturkenboom, senior investment strategist at Russell Investments in London, said the U.S. market is definitely weary from the back and forth over rates.

“We are now in this weird zone where people wonder if good news is bad news, or simply good news after all. It looks like it will be difficult for U.S. stocks to break out of its current trading range,” said Sturkenboom in emailed comments.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for May will hit at 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time, then a reading on the May University of Michigan consumer sentiment index is scheduled for release at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Read: Fatal flaw in GDP? Investors latch onto new tool to track economy (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-tool-to-track-gdp-may-ca use-as-much-problems-as-it-solves-2015-05-27)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-tool-to-track-gdp-may-ca use-as-much-problems-as-it-solves-2015-05-27)Stocks to watch: Shares of chip maker Altera Corp.(ALTR)(ALTR) rose 9% in thin premarket trade after the New York Post reported Intel Corp.(INTC) is nearing a deal (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/intel-in-talks-to-buy-altera -for-15-billion-report-2015-05-29) to buy its smaller rival. Shares of Google Inc.(GOOG) could be in focus after the company unveiled Android Pay (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-switches-up-mobile-pa yments-with-android-pay-2015-05-28), a new mobile payment service that is expected to compete directly with Apple Inc.’s(AAPL) Apple Pay.

Also read: GoPro teams up with Google for VR video system (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gopro-gets-a-jump-on-googles -vr-video-system-2015-05-29)

Moody’s Investors Service raised its rating of Morgan Stanley(MS) by two notches. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(GS), Bank of America Corp.(BAC) and Citigroup Inc.(C) all received one- notch upgrades (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/moodys-upgrades-four-top-us- banks-2015-05-29) late Thursday.

Other markets: The dollar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-lower-against-yen-on- profit-taking-2015-05-29-2103228)(USDJPY) was below where it left off in late New York trading on Thursday, last changing hands around 123.82 yen. Oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-extends-gains-investors- eye-next-weeks-opec-meeting-2015-05-29-2103236)(CLN5) moved higher as the dollar stepped back slightly and investors looked ahead to next week’s OPEC meeting. Gold prices (GCN5) were flat. The Shanghai Composite finished with a slight loss on Friday, after a 6.5% plunge Thursday.