Investing.com – Wall Street opened lower on Friday as investors took a “risk off” stance ahead key events and while waiting to check the pulse of the American consumer later in the session.
At 13:38GMT or 9:38AM ET, the Dow 30 retreated 119 points, or 0.66%, the S&P 500 fell 16 points, or 0.75%, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite lost 50 points, or 1.00%.
Global stock markets were stained with red on Friday as traders seemed reluctant to put more money on the table ahead of key market events.
Next week, both the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will announce monetary policy decisions, with the U.K. referendum on membership in the European Union (EU) fast approaching the following week.
Investors chose instead to poor into bonds on Friday, pushing 10-year yields to record lows. The Germany 10-Year hit an intraday low of 0.018%, the UK 10-Year at 1.228%, and Japan 10-Year hit bottom at -0.152%.
Some experts were speculating that Germany could follow Japan’s path into negative yield territory wherein investors actually pay the government to lend it money.
Bond guru Bill Gross from Janus Capital warned that global yields were the lowest in 500 years of recorded history with $10 trillion of negative rate bonds.
“This is a supernova that will explode one day,” he said.
For Friday’s session, market participants were looking ahead consumer sentiment in June with the preliminary read from the University of Michigan at 14:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET.
Though markets were dismissing the possibility of a Fed move coming in June, the reading could be key for U.S. central bank’s reading of the economy and the future path of rate hikes.
This will be the second-to-last reference for the Fed to chew over before the June 15 decision with the final data point being May retail sales on June 14.
Also on Friday’s economic docket, May’s Federal budget will be released at 18:00GMT, or 14:00ET.
Meanwhile, traders also took profit in crude on Friday.
A stronger dollar also weighed on oil prices on, pulling black gold from an 11-month high, despite continued supply disruptions and evidence of high demand.
Investors also waited for the U.S. oil drilling rig count from Baker Hughes, out later in the session.
U.S. crude futures lost 1.60% to $49.75 by 11:03AM GMT, or 7:03AM ET, while Brent oil traded down 1.54% to $51.15.
In company news, H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) gained 2% after reporting better-than-expected earnings and upping its dividend 10%.
Merck (NYSE:MRK) agreed to buy Afferent Pharmaceuticals in a deal that included an upfront payment of $500 million and milestones up to $750 million.
Coach Inc (NYSE:COH) chief financial officer Jane Nielsen resigned to work for Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL).
Same-store sales at U.S. chain restaurants dropped for a third-consecutive month in May, according to data from Black Box.