U.S. stock futures pared their losses Friday, following news that sales at U.S. retailers jumped 1.3% in April to mark the biggest gain in a year.
After briefly flirting with positive territory, stock futures remained in the red ahead of the opening bell, as a fresh drop in oil prices curbed investors’ risk appetite.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YMM6, -0.16% fell 49 points, or 0.2%, to 17,624, while futures for the S&P 500 SPM6, -0.17% were down 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,055. Nasdaq-100 futures NQM6, +0.05% lost 4 points, or 0.1%, to 4,330.
Auto dealers, gas stations and online vendors spearheaded the increase in retail sales, which exceeded economists’ expectations of an 1% rise.
Meanwhile U.S. producer prices rose 0.2% in April after two straight declines, but inflation at the wholesale level remained largely absent in the broader economy.
Investors welcomed the strong retail-sales reading after a flurry of disappointing news in that sector this week, due to which on Friday ahead of the opening bell the consumer-discretionary sector, which mainly includes retailers, was the only S&P 500 sector on track for a weekly loss.
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