U.S. stock futures edged higher Friday after the previous session’s rally, with the issue of the health of the banking sector still in the spotlight.
What’s driving markets
-
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
-0.18%
rose 15 points, or 0%, to 32499. -
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
-0.07%
gained 4 points, or 0.1%, to 3998. -
Nasdaq 100 futures
NQ00,
+0.05%
increased 9 points, or 0%, to 12720.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
rose 372 points, or 1.17%, to 32247, the S&P 500
SPX,
increased 68 points, or 1.76%, to 3960, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
gained 283 points, or 2.48%, to 11717.
What’s driving markets
Toward the end of Thursday’s session, major banks including JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo agreed to plunk $30 billion of uninsured deposits into First Republic Bank
FRC,
That came as the Federal Reserve reported a combined $165 billion of borrowing, mostly through its discount window but also the new facility where bonds trading at a discount can be used as collateral, at par value.
Shares of First Republic may still see pressure after the lender announced it will suspend its dividend.
There’s also the issue of Credit Suisse
CS,
the massive Swiss lender that has turned to its central bank for liquidity. Credit Suisse shares
CSGN,
slipped 5% in Zurich trade on Friday.
Ahead of next week’s Fed rate decision, there will be data on industrial production and consumer sentiment set for release.
“The decision for central banks is whether to target inflation or financial stability. We think they have more inflation fighting to do,” say strategists at Citi, who say gold can perform well across a range of outcomes, such as a global financial crisis or one focused to either the U.S. or Europe.
