Stock futures pointed to a modestly lower open Friday ahead of the expiration of options contracts.
The drop in stock futures came a day after the market erased its losses to end higher. The Dow Jones industrial average ended with a gain of 25 points and has risen five of the past six days.
With little economic and corporate news expected, trading could be choppy because of the occurrence of a quarterly "quadruple witching," which marks the simultaneous expiration of four kinds of options and futures contracts.
Europe drew attention after leaders said they would publish results of so-called bank stress tests, which are designed to evaluate the financial stability of banks. Investors have been concerned about European banks for months because of high debts in weak European Union countries like Greece.
The International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank said Greece was making the necessary cuts to reduce its deficit. The moves are required under an emergency loan package aimed at keeping the country from defaulting on its debt.
European stock markets were mixed.
Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 21, or 0.2 percent, to 10,355. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 2.50, or 0.2 percent, to 1,109.20, while Nasdaq 100 index futures dropped 1.75, or 0.1 percent, to 1,907.75.
Bond prices rose, pushing down interest rates. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.19 percent from 3.20 percent late Thursday.
The dollar rose against other major currencies, while gold prices fell. The euro slipped to $1.2368.
Crude oil fell $1.13 to $75.66 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.3 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.5 percent, and France's CAC-40 lost 0.5 percent. Earlier, Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped less than 0.1 percent.
Friday, June 18, 2010
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