Investing.com - Wall Street futures pointed to a subdued open with mixed signs on Friday, though U.S. stocks were on track for monthly gains in what has been the least volatile September ever.
The blue-chip Dow futures edged down 13 points, or 0.06% by 7:04AM ET (11:04GMT), the S&P 500 futures dropped 1 point, or 0.05%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 8 points, or 0.14%.
Despite the signal from futures for a tepid open on Friday, Wall Street was on track for some solid monthly gains on the last trading day for September.
As of Thursday’s close, the Dow had risen about 2% this month, with the S&P 500 up 1.6% and the Nasdaq as the laggard with gains of 0.4% for the month.
LPL Financial analyst Ryan Detrick commented that the last month has been the “least volatile September ever”.
This expert noted that the average intraday move in the S&P 500 has been just 40 basis points and that the global benchmark is on track for 11 months without a 3% move in either direction, tying for the record.
However, Detrick did warn in the interview with CNBC that October is historically the most volatile month of the year with more 1% daily moves than any other and reminded traders that earnings season was just a couple of weeks away.
JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) will officially give off the reporting season when it reports numbers on October 12.
For Friday’s session, investors will focus on personal income and spending data, along with the core PCE deflator, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT).
In other data, investors will digest the Chicago purchasing managers’ index for September along with the revised reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for the same month.
Meanwhile, the dollar was also seeing volatile moves around the unchanged mark on Friday, though it was on track for its biggest weekly rise against major currencies this year, while also finishing off its first month of gains since February.
While waiting for the data, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.05% to 92.90 by 7:06AM ET (11:06GMT).
Meanwhile, crude oil prices registered mixed trade near multi-month highs on Friday, while the U.S. benchmark’s weekly gains hovered close to 2%.
Market participants have taken heart in the fact that the market may be able to rebalance amid reports of high compliance in production cuts, while hopes are that renewed demand from U.S. refiners that were resuming operations after shutdowns due to Hurricane Harvey would help support prices.
U.S. crude futures was unchanged at $51.56 by 7:07AM ET (11:07GMT), while Brent oil fell 0.23% to $57.03.
Still ahead, traders will keep an eye on the latest gauge for U.S. shale production when Baker Hughes releases its most recent weekly rig count data later on Friday.