Stock market futures traded on Friday, hoping to continue this week's strong gains as Wall Street looked to updates from the retail sector and losses in the oil sector for signs of an economic slowdown.
Dow Jones futures rose nearly 0.3%, after the index ended a four-day streak of gains on Thursday. S&P 500 futures rose about 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 was little changed after daily gains for both indexes.
All three US indices are expected to continue their weekly gains with the market confident that the Federal Reserve may ease interest rate hikes. Slower inflation and softer employment data are seen as signs that central bank tightening is ending.
Some investors saw similar signals in traders' updates. Gap ( GPS ) gave a gloomy forecast for holiday sales in its earnings report on Thursday, as Walmart and Target warned that a decline in consumer spending would impact the shopping season.
Oil prices are also showing signs of slowing, falling in the market ahead of the OPEC+ meeting at the end of November.
