With the latest news out of Europe offsetting recent optimism, stocks are likely to come under pressure in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a sharply lower open, with the Dow futures down by 100 points.
Renewed concerns about the financial situation in Greece are likely to drag stocks lower after news that political leaders had reached an agreement on the necessary austerity measures contributed to a modestly higher close in the previous session.
The finance ministers from the other eurozone countries were apparently unimpressed with the agreement secured by Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and have reportedly called for an additional 325 million euros in savings.
The other eurozone countries are also calling for guarantees that the measures will be implemented before signing off on a new 130 billion euro bailout for the debt-plagued nation.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department recently released a report showing that the U.S. trade deficit came in wider than expected in the month of December, with the value of imports increasing at a faster rate than the value of exports.
The report showed that the trade deficit widened to $48.8 billion in December from a revised deficit of $47.1 billion in November. Economists had expected the deficit to come in unchanged compared to the deficit of $47.8 billion originally reported for the previous month.
Not long after the open, Reuters and the University of Michigan are due to release their preliminary report on consumer sentiment in the month of February. The consumer sentiment index is expected to edge down to 74.3 in February from January's final reading of 75.0.
Among individual stocks, NYSE Euronext (NYX) may be in focus after reporting fourth quarter adjusted earnings of $0.50 per share compared to $0.46 per share a year ago. Revenues, excluding transaction-based expenses, rose 2 percent to $628 million. The results were better than expected.
Activision Blizzard's (ATVI) fourth quarter earnings and revenues also exceeded estimates, but the video game maker provided disappointing first quarter guidance.
Delivery giant UPS (UPS) may also attract attention after announcing a 10 percent increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.57 per share.
While buying interest was relatively subdued, stocks moved modestly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The markets benefited from news out of Greece as well as some upbeat U.S. jobs data.
The major averages ended the choppy trading day in positive territory, adding to the modest gains posted in the two previous sessions. The Dow edged up 6.51 points or 0.1 percent to 12,890.46, the Nasdaq rose 11.37 points or 0.4 percent to 2,927.23 and the S&P 500 climbed 1.99 points or 0.2 percent to 1,351.95.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended the day down by 1.1 percent.
The major European markets have also shown notable moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are falling by 1.3 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures for March delivery are sliding $1.70 to $98.14 a barrel after advancing $1.13 to $99.84 a barrel on Thursday. Gold futures, which rose $9.90 to $1,741.20 an ounce in the previous session, are tumbling $31.20 to $1,710 an ounce.
Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 77.68 yen compared to the 77.6665 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.3167 compared to yesterday's $1.3286.
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