Lower Open Likely For US Markets, Oil Price Slips

Lower open likely for the U.S. markets Friday after the main stock index futures were down in the morning

Market participants are awaiting another bunch of corporate earnings and upcoming GDP growth data. At 03:15 a.m. ET, Dow futures lost 27 points, indicating a negative open of 35 points and above.

Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were also slightly lower.

Official U.S. GDP data is expected at around 8:30 a.m. ET, with consumer sentiment figures for April to follow. Chevron, Exxon Mobil and American Airlines are companies scheduled to report their latest quarterly earnings figures.

Oil slips

Oil prices dipped on Friday over speculations that OPEC may increase production to fill the demand from falling exports of Iran after the U.S tightened sanctions on that Middle East oil producer.

The dip comes after Brent’s crossed $75 mark per barrel on Thursday. Prices are high as markets are tight after OPEC output was cut and sanctions on Venezuela and Iran and unstable production in Libya squeezed supplies.

Brent crude futures fell by 11 cents at $74.24 per barrel at 0829 GMT. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 25 cents to $64.96 per barrel, from last settlements. So far, crude futures had been up 40 percent this year.

“The end of the U.S. waivers on Iran exports will be offset by higher core-OPEC and Russia and as a result, we do not expect further price upside, even if volatility is likely to increase in coming months,” said U.S. bank Goldman Sachs.

Asian stocks down

Mainland Chinese shares declined on Friday day, with the Shanghai composite slipping 1.20 percent and the Shenzhen component declining about 1.28 percent. The Shenzhen composite declined 1.33 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.1 percent in its final hour of trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.22 percent; the Topix slipped 0.15 percent to finish its trading day.

South Korea’s Kospi plunged 0.51 percent. Australia bucked the trend as the ASX 200 was up marginally.

“Share markets have run hard and fast from their December lows and are vulnerable to a short-term pullback,” said Shane Oliver, an investment strategist and chief economist at AMP Capital.

European stocks slipped lower Friday as market participants reacted to corporate earnings. The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell around 0.1 percent, with most sectors in negative territory.

Gold price up

Meanwhile, gold prices soared Friday after signs of weak global growth aroused investor interest in the yellow metal.

Spot gold jumped 0.4 percent at $1,281.69 per ounce at 0813 GMT. The U.S. gold futures moved up 0.3 percent to $1,283.80 an ounce.

“Weak data indicates that the countries may have to undertake monetary easing measures, so that is a boost to gold prices,” said Helen Lau, analyst, Argonaut Securities.