Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Friday, as equities struggled to recover from the recent sell-off in tech stocks and investors looked ahead to reports on the housing market and consumer confidence, along with the first scheduled appearance by a member of the Federal Reserve (Fed) after the policy decision and central bank chief Janet Yellen’s press conference.
The blue-chip Dow futures gained 24 points, or 0.11%, at 7:00AM ET (11:00GMT), the S&P 500 futures rose 5 points, or 0.20%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 11 points, or 0.19%.
Markets players looked ahead to the publication of building permits and housing starts for May out at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT) although the focus would likely be on the University of Michigan’s preliminary report on consumer sentiment for June scheduled for 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT).
Market players will pay particular attention to consumer confidence after a report on retail sales last Wednesday showed a surprise decline.
Also on Friday’s calendar, Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan will be the first U.S. policymaker scheduled to speak after the central bank chief Janet Yellen held her post-policy decision press conference on Wednesday.
Ahead of these appointments, the dollar slipped lower against major rivals on Friday with the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, down 0.22% at 97.29 by 7:01AM ET (11:01GMT).
In other currency news, the euro showed strength against rivals, after the International Monetary Fund and the euro zone's 19 finance ministers backed a payout of €8.5 billion to Greece in order to a default in July and avert another debt crisis.
EUR/USD rose 0.31% to 1.1181 by 7:02AM ET (11:02GMT), bouncing off the previous session’s two-week trough of 1.1130.
Furthermore, the Japanese yen remained near a two-week low against the dollar after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept its monetary policy unchanged earlier on Friday, in a widely expected move, leaving rates unchanged and pledging to keep asset purchases around the current target of ¥80 trillion.
The BoJ also upgraded its assessment of private consumption and overseas growth, signaling its confidence that an export-driven economic recovery was broadening and gaining momentum.
However, BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda reassured markets the central bank will still lag well behind the Federal Reserve in dialing back its massive stimulus program.
In company news, no major earnings were scheduled, but DuPont (NYSE:DD) and Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) confirmed they had reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to get the green light to go ahead with their merger.
Meanwhile, oil edged higher on Friday on reports of a partial export halt in Libya, recovering some lost territory, but still remained on track for weekly losses of around 2.5%.
U.S. crude futures gained 0.63% to $44.74 by 7:03AM ET (11:03GMT), while Brent oil rose 1.02% to $47.40.
Oil prices were still down around 13% since late May when OPEC and non-OPEC producers agreed to extend their agreement to curb oil production.
Rising U.S. oil output, particularly from shale drillers, is contributing to the ineffectiveness of the OPEC-led cuts.
On that last note, investors also looked ahead to the Baker Hughes' U.S. rig count data for the latest week to be released at 1:00PM (17:00GMT).
The prior data showed that U.S. drillers added rigs for the 21st week in a row, the longest such streak on record, implying that further gains in domestic production are ahead.