Friday, August 19, 2011
US stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower open for Wall Street Friday, with stocks pressured by losses in Asia and Europe and many investors concerned the world economy is on the brink of another recession.
European stocks approached two-year lows in Friday morning trade after already suffering heavy losses on Thursday.
Fears that euro zone leaders would not be able to contain the debt crisis weighed on stocks, as did concerns over funding for European banks.
Commodities also suffered on Friday, with oil lower amid concerns about global growth. Meanwhile spot gold continued to touch new highs.
Hewlett-Packard is among stocks traders are watching Friday after the world's biggest maker of personal computers said it was considering a spinoff of its PC business and had struck a deal to buy UK infrastructure software group Autonomy.
The stock was down about 11 percent in Frankfurt trade Friday, while Autonomy shares soared 70 percent in London.
Bank of America is cutting 3,500 jobs, the Wall Street Journal reported, joining the parade of banks including HSBC that have axed thousands of jobs.
There’s no US economic data due out on Friday, nor are any major earnings reports expected.
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