By Ellis Mnyandu NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were little changed on Friday before economic reports that could shed light on how higher energy costs and the housing slump are affecting consumer sentiment and the profit outlook. Data on new orders for manufactured durable goods is due at 8.30 a.m., followed by reports on June's new home sales and July's consumer sentiment at 9:55 a.m. The Commerce Department's housing data takes on added importance a day after news that existing-home sales fell more than expected to a 10-year low, helping spark a sell-off on Wall Street that extended to Asia overnight. Tokyo's Nikkei stock index ended off 2 percent. "The bias seems to be on the downside. The market is going to be focusing on the economic data," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New...
[read full story]
Your Web Site
