© Reuters
By Peter Nurse
Investing.com — U.S. stocks are seen opening lower Friday, ending a rough year on a negative note as soaring inflation and the associated hefty interest rate increases have weighed heavily on the tech sector, in particular.
At 06:40 ET (11:40 GMT), the contract was down 85 points, or 0.3%, traded 10 points, or 0.3% lower, and dropped 40 points, or 0.4%.
The three major averages closed higher Thursday, but are all set to post losses in December, snapping a two-month winning streak.
Additionally, all three indices are on course to post their worst yearly performance since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. The blue-chip is on track to drop over 8%, the broad-based set to lose 19%, while the tech-heavy is on course to fall over 33%.
Investors have rotated out of growth stocks on concerns that the aggressive monetary tightening the has undertaken to try and curb inflation at 40-year highs will lead to a severe economic slowdown.
Data released Thursday showed that the number of rose last week to 225,000, up from an unrevised 216,000 in the prior week, while new research from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank said that just over half of the 50 U.S. states are exhibiting signs of slowing economic activity.
data for December is due later Friday, and is expected to show a small improvement from November.
In the corporate sector, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:) is likely to remain in the spotlight Friday after the carrier said it plans to return to normal operations with minimal disruptions, although the thousands of canceled flights will “certainly” hit its fourth-quarter results.
However, the Biden administration said Thursday the airline will be held “accountable” if it fails to fulfill commitments to customers for “controllable delays and cancellations.”
Oil prices edged higher Friday, bouncing after the previous session’s losses, on course to end the year with modest gains.
U.S. crude oil inventories rose by a modest 718,000 barrels last week, according to data from the , released on Thursday.
This increase came as something of a surprise after the industry body had reported the previous day a drop of 1.3 million barrels.
By 06:40 ET, futures traded 0.1% higher at $78.44 a barrel, while the contract rose 0.2% to $83.61.
However, the U.S. contract is on course to record a gain of 4.5% in 2022 and Brent an increase of 7.6%, in a year marked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which sparked supply concerns.
Additionally, fell 0.1% to $1,824.70/oz, while traded 0.3% higher to 1.0697.
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