Feb 20 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were flat on Friday as investors awaited key economic data to gauge the path of monetary policy easing for the year while monitoring tensions with Tehran and a potential U.S. Supreme Court decision on Trump’s tariffs.
A slew of economic reports on Friday, including the preliminary estimate of fourth-quarter U.S. GDP, the Personal Consumption Expenditure index — the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — and February’s business activity and consumer sentiment data are expected to provide insights into the health of the U.S. economy.
Data at 8:30 a.m. ET is expected to show U.S. GDP increased at a 3.0% annualized rate last quarter, according to a Reuters poll of economists, after growing at a 4.4% pace in the July-September quarter.
“Market pricing of growth has been choppier relative to the signal from the data,” Goldman Sachs economists said in a note.
“We think there is scope for cyclical assets to continue to draw support from ongoing tailwinds from a US economy that is heating up, while protecting against risks and valuation challenges in other areas.”
Technology stocks have been pressured in recent months due concerns over high valuations and limited evidence that massive investments in AI were paying off. Sectors ranging from software to real estate were hammered last week by concerns that new AI models would upend their business models.
The mood among U.S. equity investors was largely stable this week, barring Thursday, when a drop in private equity stocks as well as shares of Apple and Walmart rattled sentiment.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court could rule on the legality of President Donald Trump’s broad emergency tariffs on Friday. If they are struck down, there is a risk that more than $175 billion in U.S. tariff collections would have to be refunded, according to Penn-Wharton Budget Model economists.
Oil prices dipped from six-month highs as investors assessed the fallout of growing tensions between Washington and Tehran, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning Iran it must make a deal over its nuclear program or “really bad things” would happen.
At 06:09 a.m. ET, S&P 500 e-minis fell 3 points, or 0.04%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis rose 3.25 points, or 0.01%, and Dow E-minis slipped 39 points, or 0.08%.
Akamai Technologies slid 10.9% premarket after the cloud company forecast first-quarter adjusted profit below Wall Street estimates.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms climbed as bitcoin rose 1.4% to $ 67,840. Crypto exchange operator Coinbase added 1.5%, while bitcoin hoarder Strategy rose 1.6%.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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