Wall Street opens in the green as US retail sales unexpectedly rise

The main indices on Wall Street opened in positive territory on Friday after US retail sales unexpectedly rose in June.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.14% at 35,035 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to 4,373 and the Nasdaq rose 0.5% to 14,615.

The positive open followed data that showed US retail sales increased 0.6% in June in contrast to the 0.4% decline predicted by analysts, although data for May was revised to show a 1.7% decline as opposed to the previous 1.3% decrease.

The increase is likely to boost optimism for a US economic recovery and that consumer activity picked up in the second quarter.

8:10am: Wall Street to start slightly higher

Wall Street is expected to start slightly higher on Friday morning as investors await the latest batch of US retail sales data.

Futures markets are pointing towards a 0.1% rise for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500, with the Nasdaq seen edging up 0.2%.

“Looking ahead, US stocks are pointing to a mildly stronger start after a mixed close in the previous session. In fact, trading across the week has been a mixed picture as investors weigh up the Fed’s assurance of loose monetary policy against high and rising inflation,” said market analyst Sophie Griffiths at Oanda.

“Attention will be firmly on US retail sales data and Michigan consumer confidence for further clues over the health of the US economy. Expectations are for another contraction in retail sales after a disappointment last month, which could weigh on sentiment.”

Shares in Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) are expected to see a step up as the WSJ reports that the chip designer and maker is in talks to buy semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries Inc for about US$30bn.

Also making the news stateside is a survey from Reuters indicating that President Biden will reappoint current Fed boss Jerome Powell for another term, from February next year.

Four things to watch for on Friday:

• Companies in the earnings diary at the end of the week include banking group State Street Corp (NYSE:STT), transport firm Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) and housebuilder NVR Inc (NYSE:NVR)
• Shares in vaccine maker Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) could also be in focus as the company prepares to join the S&P 500
• Memestocks AMC Entertainment Inc (NYSE:AMC) and GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) could also see a revival of fortunes at the end of a bruising week for the Reddit favourites
• On the macro front, aside from US retails sales there will also be new consumer sentiment and inflation expectations data

Story by ProactiveInvestors