Advertisment
Stock futures were lower Friday morning as investors continued to dump stocks into year-end on fears a recession is ahead next year because of the Federal Reserve’s unrelenting rate hiking.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials blundered 315 points, or 0.9%, early Friday to 33,120.
Futures for the S&P 500 slumped 36.75 points, or 0.9%, to 3,890.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite jettisoned 60.25 points, or 0.5%, to 11,396.75.
Stocks which would suffer in a recession declined in premarket trading Friday. GM and Caterpillar were each off more than 1% in premarket trading.
Meanwhile, shares of Olive Garden-parent Darden Restaurants rose slightly in the premarket after reporting earnings that topped estimates.
Trading could be especially volatile Friday with a large amount of options set to expire. There are $2.6 trillion worth of index options set to expire, the highest amount “relative to the size of the equity market in nearly two years,” according to Goldman Sachs.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.9% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index squeezed 0.1% upward.
Oil prices gave back $1.69 to $74.42 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $5.80 to $1,793.60 U.S. an ounce.
