WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing
to a lower open on Friday, with stocks likely to give back ground after ending
yesterday's choppy trading session mostly higher.

Profit taking may contribute to initial weakness on Wall Street after the Nasdaq
and the S&P 500 ended the previous session at new record closing highs.

Encouraging inflation data has contributed to recent strength, although traders
remain wary about the outlook for interest rates after the Federal Reserve
forecast just one rate cut this year.

Potentially helping to alleviate the concerns, the Labor Department released a
report this morning showing unexpected decrease by U.S. import and export prices
in the month of May.

The Labor Department said import prices fell by 0.4 percent in May following a
0.9 percent advance in April. Economists had expected import prices to inch up
by 0.1 percent.

Prices for fuel imports led the way lower, tumbling by 2.0 percent, although
prices for non-fuel imports also dipped by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the report said export prices slid by 0.6 percent in May after
climbing by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in April.

Economists had expected export prices to come in unchanged compared to the 0.5
percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Thursday,
as traders took a breather following the rally seen in Wednesday's session.
Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached new
record closing highs.

The Nasdaq climbed 59.12 points or 0.3 percent to 17,667.56 and the S&P 500 rose
12.71 points or 0.2 percent to 5,433.74. The Dow once again bucked the uptrend,
however, with the blue chip index slipping 65.11 points or 0.2 percent to
38,647.10.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came despite the release of U.S. economic data
that seemed likely to add to optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

While the data may have generated some hopes Federal Reserve officials were
being conservative when they forecast just one rate cut this year, traders may
have been reluctant to continuing buying stocks following yesterday's surge.

Following yesterday's tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation data, the
Labor Department released a report unexpectedly showing a modest decrease by
producer prices in the month of May.

The report said the producer price index for final demand dipped by 0.2 percent
in May after climbing by 0.5 percent in April. Economists had expected producer
prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.

The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 2.2
percent in May from an upwardly revised 2.3 percent in April.

Economists had expected the annual rate of producer price growth to accelerate
to 2.5 percent from the 2.2 percent originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department also released a separate report showing an unexpected
increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended
June 8th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 242,000, an increase of 13,000
from the previous week's unrevised level of 229,000. Economists had expected
jobless claims to edge down to 225,000.

With the unexpected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since
hitting 248,000 in the week ended August 12, 2023.

'The latest data in hand nudge the door a little wider open for the Fed to begin
making an interest rate cut later this year,' said Bill Adams, Chief Economist
for Comerica Bank. 'Comerica forecasts for the Fed to make its first cut of this
cycle in September, followed by a second cut in December.'

Semiconductor and computer hardware stocks showed strong moves to the upside on
the day, contributing to the modest gain posted by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Reflecting the strength in the sectors, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and
the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index climbing by 1.5 percent and 1.4 percent,
respectively.

Within the semiconductor sector, shares of Broadcom (AVGO) soared by 12.3
percent after the chipmaker reported better than expected fiscal second quarter
results and announced a 10-for-1 stock split.

Meanwhile, gold stocks pulled back sharply along with the price of the precious
metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.4 percent.

Oil service stocks also saw considerable weakness despite a modest increase by
the price of crude oil, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index tumbling by 2.1
percent.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are rising $0.32 to $78.94 a barrel after inching up $0.12 to
$78.62 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after plunging $36.80 to $2,318 an ounce
in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $25.10 to $2,343.10 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.25 yen versus the
157.03 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the
euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0687 compared to yesterday's $1.0737.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday after Beijing slammed EU tariffs on Chinese
electric vehicles as protectionist behavior and indicated it would take
countermeasures in an escalating trade dispute. Signs of slowing inflation in
the United States helped to limit regional losses to some extent.

The Japanese yen and bond yields fell as the Bank of Japan flagged a cut in debt
purchases without laying out any figures or timeline.

Gold edged up slightly in Asian trading, while oil prices eased but headed for
their best week in more than two months.

China's Shanghai Composite Index reversed early losses to end 0.1 percent higher
at 3,032.63, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.9 percent to 17,941.78
on tariff jitters.

Japanese markets reversed early losses to end higher after the Bank of Japan
said it would scale down its huge bond-buying program and announce a detailed
plan for the reduction 'during the next one to two years or so' at the next
policy meeting in July.

The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.2 percent to 38,814.56 amid relief over the central
bank making no near-term changes to its bond buying program. The broader Topix
Index settled 0.5 percent higher at 2,746.61 despite a decline in banking
stocks.

Seoul stocks ended higher for the fourth day running due to sustained strength
in technology stocks. Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 1.3 percent
while battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 3.9 percent.

The Kospi inched up 0.1 percent to 2,758.42 as the government extended a
market-wide ban on short-selling of stocks through the first quarter of 2025.

Australian markets ended lower as investors braced for the Reserve Bank of
Australia's policy meeting due next week.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped 0.3 percent to 7,724.30 as miners
declined due to pressure on iron ore prices from China's weakening property
market. The broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 0.4 percent at 7,974.80.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P NZX-50 Index finished marginally
lower at 11,864.89.

Europe

European stocks have moved mostly lower on Friday, extending losses from the
previous session as election campaigns in the U.K. and France continue.

Political uncertainty in France has weighed on the marketsafter the country's
finance chief warned that a new left-wing coalition coming to power in France
would lead to the country's exit from the European Union.

Elsewhere, Nigel Farage's Reform UK has surpassed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's
Conservatives in a YouGov poll.

The poll for the Times newspaper puts Reform UK at 19 percent, up from 17
percent previously, and the Conservative Party unchanged at 18 percent in voting
intention.

While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is marginally lower, the German DAX Index is
down by 1.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 2.1 percent.

Regional banks suffered heavy losses, with French lenders BNP Paribas, Credit
Agricole and Societe Generale plummeting as the risk premium on French bonds hit
a four-year high on concerns about the political situation in the country.

France's finance minister has warned that the country could plunge into a debt
crisis similar to one sparked in the U.K. two years ago if far-right leader
Marine Le Pen were to win legislative elections slated for the end of the month.

Ratings agency S&P Global, which recently downgraded the country, said policies
advocated by the party could have implications for the credit rating.

French retail company Casino Group has also slumped after an announcement that
it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Auchan Retail France and Rocca
regarding a sale of its Corsican subsidiary Codim 2.

Meanwhile, Crest Nicholson shares have soared in London. The embattled
homebuilder has rebuffed a second all-share takeover approach from its larger
rival Bellway.

Tesco has also rallied after reporting a 'robust' surge in grocery purchases by
U.K. shoppers in the most recent quarter.

In economic news, French consumer price inflation accelerated in May on higher
energy and food prices, final data from the statistical office INSEE showed.

The consumer price index climbed 2.3 percent on a yearly basis in May, faster
than the 2.2 percent increase seen in April. The rate for May was revised up
from 2.2 percent.

The slight increase in inflation resulted from higher prices of energy and food.
Energy prices grew at a faster pace of 5.7 percent due to base effect.

Britons' short-term inflation expectations softened in May, the quarterly
Inflation Attitudes Survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Bank of England
showed.

The one-year ahead inflation expectations fell to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent
in February. Respondents assessed the current inflation at 5.5 percent compared
to 6.1 percent in the previous survey period.

U.S. Economic Reports

A report released by the Labor Department on Friday showed unexpected decreases
by U.S. import and export prices in the month of May.

The Labor Department said import prices fell by 0.4 percent in May following a
0.9 percent advance in April. Economists had expected import prices to inch up
by 0.1 percent.

Prices for fuel imports led the way lower, tumbling by 2.0 percent, although
prices for non-fuel imports also dipped by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the report said export prices slid by 0.6 percent in May after
climbing by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in April.

Economists had expected export prices to come in unchanged compared to the 0.5
percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

At 10 am ET, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its preliminary
report on consumer sentiment in the month of June. The consumer sentiment index
is expected to climb to 72.0 in June after plunging to 69.1 in May.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee is due to participate in a
fireside chat before the Iowa Farm Bureau Economic Summit at 2 pm ET.

At 7 pm ET, Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook is scheduled to speak at an
event celebrating 50 Years of the American Economic Association Summer Program.

Stocks In Focus


Shares of Adobe (ADBE) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after the
software company reported better than expected fiscal second quarter results and
raised its full-year guidance.

Toymaker Hasbro (HAS) may also move to the upside after Bank of America upgraded
its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.

On the other hand, shares of RH (RH) are seeing substantial pre-market weakness
after the high-end retailer reported a wider than expected fiscal first quarter
loss.



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