U.S. futures are mixed as Wall Street looks to advance for the week ahead of new retail sales data. The future for the S&P 500 edged 0.1 per cent higher Friday while Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1 per cent. Nasdaq futures rose 0.1 per cent. The U.S. stock market hit all-time highs Thursday on new data that showed inflation cooled in July, as well as a decline in oil prices. However, oil is rebounding to end the week after two United Arab Emirates tankers were attacked while trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz. New numbers for U.S. retail sales arrive Friday before the opening bell after shoppers slowed their spending in June from May. There had been a notable bump in spending in both April and May as Americans dipped into their U.S. tax refunds. Consumers, while resilient, have become more careful about how they spend money with more of their paychecks going to groceries and gasoline. The average price of gas rose again overnight to US$4.08, according to motor club AAA. That’s 92 cents more per gallon than at this time last year. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 24 cents to US$87.31 per barrel early Friday. U.S. benchmark crude rose almost 1 per cent to US$81.83. Businesses and households have had difficulty budgeting for gasoline and shipping because energy prices have become extremely volatile as fighting continues in the Middle East. Hopes for a U.S. deal with Iran have faded and the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the global oil supply usually transits each day, remains bottled up. There was a level of relief after new reports this week showed consumer inflation, as well as rising costs in the pipeline before it reaches consumers, slowed in July. If inflation appears to be in check, the Federal Reserve could hold off on raising interest rates. Higher rates would help keep a lid on inflation, but they do so by intentionally slowing the economy and making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money. “The disinflation ducks are starting to line up, and with oil also backing off, the market has steadily stripped away the case for another near-term Fed hike,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. In equities trading Friday, Reddit’s stock surged more than 12 per cent before the bell with the social media platform joining the S&P 500 next week. Applied Materials slumped after the second quarter performance of the computer chip equipment maker fell short of investor expectations. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1 per cent to 10,761.60 after Nigel Farage regained the seat in Parliament he quit a month ago, beating trash-can wearing comic candidate Count Binface in a widely mocked special election. In Germany, the DAX rose 0.7 per cent to 26,476.21, while the CAC 40 in Paris edged less than 0.1 per cent lower to 8,654.97. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6 per cent to 68,713.80, while the Kospi in South Korea rose 2.4 per cent to 6,977.94. The U.S. dollar dipped to 159.15 Japanese yen from 159.16 yen. The euro edged down slightly to US$1.1555 from US$1.1556. Elaine Kurtenbach And Michelle Chapman, The Associated Press
