US stock futures were mixed on Friday, struggling to hold onto pre-Thanksgiving Day gains with a holiday-shortened session ahead.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) futures moved up about 0.2% or about 80 points, while S&P 500 (^GSPC) futures were little changed after the market’s closure on Thursday. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) wavered around the flatline.
Eyes will be on retailers as Black Friday kicks off the holiday shopping season, after big-box chains such as Target (TGT) and Walmart (WMT) warned penny-pinching consumers are are spending cautiously. Retailers are going earlier and longer on holiday promotions as shoppers turn picky.
Meanwhile, discord at OPEC+ kept a lid on crude prices after the group of oil-producing countries said it will hold its next meeting online. The meeting to discuss output was delayed due to a dispute between Saudi Arabia and African members over quotas, Bloomberg reported.
Brent crude futures edged up less than 1% to around $81 per barrel. after falling 1.3% in the last two sessions. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down around 0.4% at $76.79 a barrel after the Thanksgiving break in trading.
Nvidia’s (NVDA) shares slipped around 2% in premarket trading after Reuters reported the company has pushed back the launch in China of an AI chip designed to comply with US export curbs. In its earnings this week, Nvidia noted the new US restrictions would drag on its results.
Investors will get an update from S&P Global on US manufacturing and services before the closing bell rings Friday at 1 p.m. ET.