Forex Investment

Stock futures pointed to a slightly weaker start Friday on recession fears, though tame inflation data helped buck up spirits. Nasdaq futures fell 1 point vs. fair value, S&P 500 lost 2 points and Dow fell 32 points.

Former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan said the odds of a recession have risen to less than 50-50, though that’s not really different that what he said last week.

Foreign markets traded in split fashion. The Shanghai composite charged up 2.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3%. The FTSE 100 fell 0.5% and the Dax slipped 0.1%.

The greenback hit another record low against the euro.

Futures pared some losses after cool inflation data. The core personal consumption expenditure index ticked up 0.1% in August, meeting views. That brought the year-over-year rate down to 1.8%, the lowest in over 3 years and within the Fed’s 1% to 2% comfort zone.

Personal income grew 0.3% in August, the lowest since April and a bit below views. Personal spending climbed 0.6%. Inflation-adjusted spending also rose 0.6%, the best in two years.

The Chicago purchasing managers index will be out at 9:45 a.m. ET and data on construction spending will be out at 10 a.m. ET.

Target () edged up 2% in the pre-market. Merrill Lynch upgraded the retailer to buy from neutral and set a 77 price target. Target had a rough week after warning late Tuesday of weak Sept. sales.

First Solar () climbed 3% after announcing it’ll build another plant in Malaysia.

China Finance Online () gained another 4% to 36.8 ahead of the opening bell. That’s despite Brean Murray’s move to downgrade the stock to hold from buy. China Finance has risen for the last 8 sessions, from just under 15 to nearly 45 intraday on Thursday. Shares did rise 4% that day, but closed at the low end of their range.

Cognos () slipped 2% despite reporting fiscal Q2 income excluding items ahead of views. The software maker also guided Q3 and full-year results mostly in line with estimates. And it said it would buy back up to $200 million or 6 million shares of its own stock.

Wynn Resorts () fell 4.5% in the premarket to 159.42 after soaring to yet another high on Thursday. The casino operator sold 3.75 mil shares at $158 a piece this morning.

Stock futures pointed to a slightly weaker start Friday on recession fears, though tame inflation data helped buck up spirits. Nasdaq futures fell 1 point vs. fair value, S&P 500 lost 2 points and Dow fell 32 points.

Former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan said the odds of a recession have risen to less than 50-50, though that’s not really different that what he said last week.

Foreign markets traded in split fashion. The Shanghai composite charged up 2.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3%. The FTSE 100 fell 0.5% and the Dax slipped 0.1%.

The greenback hit another record low against the euro.

Futures pared some losses after cool inflation data. The core personal consumption expenditure index ticked up 0.1% in August, meeting views. That brought the year-over-year rate down to 1.8%, the lowest in over 3 years and within the Fed’s 1% to 2% comfort zone.

Personal income grew 0.3% in August, the lowest since April and a bit below views. Personal spending climbed 0.6%. Inflation-adjusted spending also rose 0.6%, the best in two years.

The Chicago purchasing managers index will be out at 9:45 a.m. ET and data on construction spending will be out at 10 a.m. ET.

Target () edged up 2% in the pre-market. Merrill Lynch upgraded the retailer to buy from neutral and set a 77 price target. Target had a rough week after warning late Tuesday of weak Sept. sales.

First Solar () climbed 3% after announcing it’ll build another plant in Malaysia.

China Finance Online () gained another 4% to 36.8 ahead of the opening bell. That’s despite Brean Murray’s move to downgrade the stock to hold from buy. China Finance has risen for the last 8 sessions, from just under 15 to nearly 45 intraday on Thursday. Shares did rise 4% that day, but closed at the low end of their range.

Cognos () slipped 2% despite reporting fiscal Q2 income excluding items ahead of views. The software maker also guided Q3 and full-year results mostly in line with estimates. And it said it would buy back up to $200 million or 6 million shares of its own stock.

Wynn Resorts () fell 4.5% in the premarket to 159.42 after soaring to yet another high on Thursday. The casino operator sold 3.75 mil shares at $158 a piece this morning.