Futures Suggest Potential Market Decline At Open

(RTTNews) - Fourth quarter GDP, new home sales data and consumer sentiment reports might get special attention on Friday. Escalating U.S.-Iran tensions are closely monitored by investors.

During the Asian trading session, gold edged above $5,000 an ounce, oil climbed, while the dollar surged to a one-month high.

Initial signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower.

As of 7.25 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 70.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 9.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 39.75 points.

The U.S. major averages finished Thursday in negative territory. The Dow slid 267.50 points or 0.5 percent to 49,395.16, the Nasdaq fell 70.91 points or 0.3 percent to 22,682.73 and the S&P 500 dipped 19.42 points or 0.3 percent to 6,861.89.

On the Economic front, the Gross Domestic Product or GDP for the fourth quarter will issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 2.8 percent, while it was up 4.4 percent in the prior quarter.

The Personal Income and Outlays for December will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for personal income was an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.3 percent November.

The Flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index or PMI for February will be revealed at 9.45 am ET. The Manufacturing Index consensus is 51.9, while it was up 52.4 in the prior month.

The New Home Sales for November will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 735K.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is scheduled at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 773, while the U.S. rig count was 551.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will participate in moderated conversation on the economic outlook before event hosted by the Birmingham Business Journal at 9.45 am ET.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem will appear on Fox Business at 3.30 pm ET.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday. Chinese markets remained shut for the Lunar New Year holidays. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.10 percent to 26,413.35.

Japanese markets lost ground. The Nikkei average fell 1.12 percent to 56,825.70 while the broader Topix index settled 1.13 percent lower at 3,808.48.

Australian markets finished marginally lower. Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index fell 1.01 percent to 13,308.52.