Friday morning, the S&P 500 Index e-mini futures (ES-H3) are trading lower by 2.00 points to $1488.25 per contract. While the decline in the S&P 500 Index futures is not very steep the NASDAQ 100 e-mini futures (NQ-H3) are painting a different picture; they are trading lower by 40.00 points to $2719.00 per contract. The catalyst for the decline in the NASDAQ futures is due to the drop in Apple Inc (AAPL) stock after reporting earnings last night.
This stock accounts for roughly 16.0 percent of the NASDAQ 100. Many other tech stocks including Nuance Communications Inc (NUAN), Qualcomm Inc (QCOM), Broadcom Corp (BRCM), and Cirrus Logic Inc (CRUS) could all trade lower in sympathy to Apple's sharp stock decline. So it might be safe to say Apple is likely to drag tech lower at the start of the day.
Last night, the Asian stock indexes finished mostly lower. The one Asian stock index that did finish higher was the Nikkei 225 Index closing up 1.28 percent. The Nikkei remains very volatile at this time since the Bank of Japan continues to try and inflate the stock market. Traders should now be very cautious when trading the Japanese markets. The easy money seems to have already been made in Japan.
Below you may find the video.