U.S. stocks are poised to open lower on Friday, with banks in focus, after JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it suffered a 2 billion trading loss after an "egregious" failure at its chief investment office that manages the bank's synthetic credit portfolio.
Additionally, concerns about China returned to the fore after data showed China's industrial production grew the least since 2009 in April and retail sales growth slowed to the weakest in 14 months.However, inflation was below target, fueling expectations of fresh policy easing measures to support economic growth.
In news out of Europe, talks on forming a new Greek government entered a fifth day after a second attempt to form a coalition failed. It is now up to the leader of Greece's main socialist party, Evangelos Venizelos, who has received the presidential mandate to form a viable government.
The major U.S. averages ended narrowly mixed after a choppy ride yesterday, as traders reacted to a cautious outlook from Cisco Systems and some mixed economic data, including a report showing a slight drop in initial jobless claims.
As of 6:30 am ET, the Dow futures are retreating 62 points, the S&P 500 futures are receding 7.20 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are moving down 7.50 points.
On the macroeconomic front, data due out later in the day include the April producer price index and the consumer sentiment index from Reuters/University of Michigan.
In corporate news, Express Scripts Holding reported first quarter adjusted EPS of $0.73 and said it expects to report full year adjusted EPS between $3.36 and $3.66, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63.
Upscale department stores operator Nordstrom, Inc. reported a modest 2.8 percent rise in first quarter profit, as costs to grow its e-commerce business dented a 13.7 percent sales growth.
Application software maker CA Technologies said its fourth-quarter earnings increased from last year, helped mainly by lower income tax payments.
An FDA advisory panel voted 18-4 to recommend approval of lorcaserin, developed by Arena Pharmaceuticals.
MBIA Inc. reported that its first-quarter net income available to common shareholders was $10 million compared to a net loss of $1.3 billion for the first quarter of 2011, helped mainly by $303 million in pre-tax unrealized gains on insured credit derivatives.
McDermott International, Inc. reported a 11 percent drop in first-quarter profit, as revenue declined due to lower activity in the Asia Pacific region.
Imperial Sugar Co. reported a second-quarter net loss of $6.5 million compared to a net income of $4.2 million in the year-ago period.
Dillard Inc. reported a 24 percent increase in profit for the first quarter on higher revenues and same-store sales.
Darling International Inc. reported a first-quarter net profit of $28.57 million or $0.24 per share, missing analyst estimates.
American International Group, Inc. announced that, due to his appointment as chief executive officer of Freddie Mac, Donald Layton had submitted his resignation from the board of directions of the company to be effective as of the commencement of AIG's 2012 annual shareholder meeting on May 16.
American Apparel raised its net sales outlook for the full year 2012 to $570 million-$590 million from its previously issued outlook of $552 million-$559 million.
A. M. Castle & Co. announced the appointment of Scott Stephens as interim Chief Executive Officer effective immediately, replacing Michael Goldberg in his role as President and CEO.
Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc .reported a wider loss for the first quarter compared to last year, due mainly to lower revenues and higher interest expense.
Asian stocks fell across the board, as JPMorgan Chase's revelation of a surprise trading loss and weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data increased risk aversion.
Japan's Nikkei index ended down 0.6 percent below the psychologically important 9,000 mark for the first time in three months, with leading electronic manufacturers like Pioneer, Sharp and Sony all tumbling more than 5 percent. China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.6 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1.3 percent.
European stocks are also losing ground, with the German DAX, France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 losing around half a percent each, as Telefonica and Credit Agricole reported disappointing earnings. Heavyweight energy stocks are rising, limiting the downside to some extent.
Commodities are continuing to see weakness on the heels of Chinese data, while the euro rose against the dollar after Greek conservative leader Samaras said there were still hopes to form a government. Crude prices fell over a percent to $96 a barrel after OPEC said that growth in global crude supplies is outpacing demand.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com