U.S. benchmark equity indexes were indicating a downward trend prior to Friday's market opening as investors prepared for the release of the personal income and outlays report for August. The Standard & Poor's 500 registered a slight decline of 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average exhibited a modest decrease as well, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.3% in premarket trading.
Conversely, most Asian exchanges displayed an upward trend, and midday European markets showed a positive trajectory. The personal income report is set to be released at 8:30 am ET and will include the personal consumption expenditure core price index, which is a key inflation measure favored by the Federal Reserve.
Additionally, Friday's economic calendar features several important reports, including updates on international trade in goods, retail inventories, and wholesale inventories for the previous month. At 10 am, the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment report for September will be released, followed by the weekly Baker Hughes domestic oil-and-gas rig count at 1 pm.
Lastly, the farm prices report for August is due out at 3 pm. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman is scheduled to address the public at 1:15 pm. The shares of Costco Wholesale experienced a pre-market decline of 1.2% after the warehouse chain reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue that fell short of market expectations.
In contrast, shares of BlackBerry ($BB.US) listed in the U.S. dropped by 3.9% despite the company raising its bottom-line outlook for fiscal 2025. In a more positive development, Bristol-Myers Squibb soared by 6.4% following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of its oral medication treatment for schizophrenia. Before market opening, Bitcoin saw an increase of 0.8% to reach $65,595, West Texas Intermediate crude oil edged up by 0.4% to $67.94 per barrel, the yield on 10-year Treasuries remained relatively stable at 3.79%, and gold prices decreased by 0.3% to $2,687 per ounce..