Stocks poised to open higher
U.S. stock markets looked likely to open marginally higher on Friday, as traders continued to track developments in Ukraine, and assessed surging inflation and a hawkish surprise from the European Central Bank.
At around 5:10 a.m. ET, futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were indicated 97 points, or 0.29% higher to 33,249. S&P 500 futures added 15.75 points, or 0.37% to 4,273 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gained 56.25 points, or 0.41% to 13,642.25.
On Thursday, the Dow tumbled 112.18 points, or 0.3%, to close at 33174.07 after the Labor Department reported that U.S. consumer price index soared to a fresh 40-year high of 7.9% in February.
Month to month, CPI jumped a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in February, reflecting higher gas, shelter and food costs.
The S&P lost 18.36 points, or nearly 0.4% to finish 4259.52 while the Nasdaq Composite gave away 125.58 points, or about 1%, to end at 13129.96.
SEC identifies five Chinese companies that could be listed
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a list of five U.S.-listed Chinese companies that could be delisted if they do not provide access to audit documents.
The regulator said YumChina Holdings (NYSE: YUMC), ACM Research (NASDAQ: ACMR), Hutchmed (NASDAQ: HCM), BeiGene (NASDAQ: BGNE), and Zai Lab (NASDAQ: ZLAB) are at risk of being delisted for not adhering to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountability Act (HFCAA).
It is the first time SEC officials have warned Chinese companies that their stocks facing delisting for violating the HFCAA Act which was passed in 2020
The act allows the SEC to ban companies from trading and delist them from U.S. stock markets if the regulator is unable to examine company audits for three straight years.
Crude futures jump as Russia interrupts Iran nuclear talks
Meanwhile, crude futures were rising earl Friday as the prospects of restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were thrown into uncertainty after Russia made last-minute demands.
Politico reported that Russians have requested that any return to the deal include guarantees that any future Russian business with Iran would not be targeted by U.S. and EU sanctions.
It remains to be seen what Russia’s demand will mean for the talks in Vienna that appeared to be coming to a conclusion after more than 11 months.
As of 5:10 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures advanced $1.79, or 1.69% to $107.81 a barrel. Global Brent crude futures were at $111.48, up $2.15, or 1.97% a barrel.
