Stock futures held around flat Friday morning as investors looked toward the end of a week that has ushered in a recovery rally.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 32 points, or 0.08%. S&P 500 futures were off 0.14% and Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.07% lower.
The indecision comes after a strong day on Wall Street. The Dow gained more than 500 points on Thursday, rising more than 1% along with the broad S&P 500. The Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 2% as technology shares led the ascent.
Thursday marked the sixth straight winning day for both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. With respective gains of more than 3% and 5% on the week, both are on track to notch their biggest weekly gains since November. The Dow has climbed more than 2% this week, which would also mark its best performance this year.
Retail sales data released Thursday came in much stronger than economists expected, while weekly jobless claims fell. Both offered evidence that recession fears, which helped spark a global sell-off earlier this month, were overblown.
These stats came after inflation readings released earlier this week bolstered hopes that a soft landing scenario was still possible. These data points also supported the expectation that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates at its next policy meeting in September.
“Investors have been looking for additional reasons to continue the road to recovery,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. “With the recent, better-than-expected economic and employment data, now investors are picking up the pace.”
Markets will be watching more economic data Friday, with releases coming on housing and consumer sentiment.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect a Commerce Department report to show housing starts at 1.34 million and building permits at 1.42 million in July, both lower than the previous month. The University of Michigan also will release its consumer sentiment survey, which includes the outlook on inflation at the one- and five-year horizons.