Futures Pull up Slightly After Record Highs This Week

Stock futures were relatively unchanged on Friday, a day after both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ closed lower, retreating slightly from all-time highs.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 77 points, or 0.2%, to 46,670.

Futures for the much broader index added 9.75 points to 6,789.

Futures for the NASDAQ gained 42.25 points, or 0.2%, to 25,331.75.

The U.S. government shutdown dragged into its 10th day on Friday, a day after the Senate failed for a seventh time to pass dueling stop-gap funding proposals that would have put an end to the stoppage.

Republicans and Democrats have appeared to show no signs of making meaningful progress on negotiations.

With the stalemate continuing, investors are struggling to find catalysts due to a lack of economic data from the U.S. government.

Earnings reports on Thursday from companies like Delta Air Lines and PepsiCo were positive and offered some sense of consumer demand. However, they weren’t enough to sustain a rally in stocks on Thursday.

Still, both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ could eke out small gains for the week of 0.3% and 1.1%, respectively. The 30-stock Dow, however, is pacing for a 0.9% drop.

However, earnings season is set to begin in earnest next week, with several banks such as Citigroup and JPMorgan slated to post their third-quarter results.

Data on U.S. consumer sentiment is scheduled to be released Friday morning at 10 a.m. ET.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 1% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dipped 1.7%.

Oil prices faded 89 cents to $60.62 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices hiked $37.50 to $4,010.100 U.S. per ounce.