Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open Ahead Of Trump-Putin Meeting

(RTTNews) - Following the lackluster performance seen in the previous session, stocks may continue to show a lack of direction in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by less than a tenth of a percent.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as they keep an eye on a highly-anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Trump and Putin are scheduled to meet in Alaska later today to discuss ending the drawn out war in Ukraine, although the outcome of the summit may not be known until after the close of trading.

The futures remained little changed following the release of a batch of U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department showing retail sales increased in line with economist estimates in the month of July.

The Commerce Department said retail sales climbed by 0.5 percent in July after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9 percent in June.

Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales rose by 0.3 percent in July after growing by 0.8 percent in June. The increase in ex-auto sales also matched expectations.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed import prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of July.

The report said import prices climbed by 0.4 percent in July after a downwardly revised 0.1 percent dip in June. Economists had expected import prices to inch up by 0.1 percent, matching the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said export prices crept up by 0.1 percent in July after rising by 0.5 percent in June. The modest increase matched economist estimates.

After recovering from an early move to the downside, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the S&P 500 crept up 1.96 points or less than a tenth of a percent to a new record closing high of 6,468.54, the Nasdaq edged down 2.47 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,710.67 and the Dow slipped 11.01 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 44,911.26.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 1.7 percent to a record closing high, while China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.6 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.42 to $63.54 a barrel after surging $1.31 to $63.96 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after sliding $25.10 to $3,383.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $3 to $3,386.20 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 146.91 yen versus the 147.76 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1692 compared to yesterday's $1.1648.