Wall Street futures up, but on track for first losing week in a month

Wall Street posted modest gains before opening Friday as markets try to recoup some of this week's losses.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% before the bell, while Dow futures rose 0.1%.

A wave of mixed results this week from major U.S. retailers effectively signals the end of earnings season, although a few companies are still reporting results.

Deckers Outdoor, owner of Ugg boots and Teva sandals, jumped 10.5% in early trading Friday after beating Wall Street profit targets. Sales increased across all its brands, including its Hoka sandals, which saw revenue growth of 34% in the period.

Discount retailer Ross Stores climbed 6.9% before the bell after reporting higher profits and sales than analysts expected.

Stocks broadly began to pull back from record highs earlier in the week on concerns that a strong U.S. economy could prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates in the near future.

One report suggests that growth in U.S. business activity is hitting its fastest pace in more than two years, while another shows that less than workers filed for unemployment Profits last week exceeded those expected by economists, indicating that layoffs remain low.

The Fed is trying to pull off the difficult feat of slowing the economy enough through high rates to bring inflation down to 2%, but not so much that it causes a painful recession. To do this, it is keeping its main interest rate at the highest level in more than two decades, and Wall Street is eagerly awaiting some easing.

More significant inflation data will be released next week in the form of the government's consumer spending report, which includes a measure of inflation of particular interest to the Fed and its policymakers.

Elsewhere, at midday in Europe, the German DAX and the FTSE in London each lost 0.4%, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.3%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 1.2% to 38,646.11 after the government said core inflation excluding food and energy price volatility was 2.2% in April , lower than forecast. Analysts said this suggested less pressure on the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates.

Indeed, in seasonally adjusted terms, consumer prices excluding fresh products and energy have now been stable for two consecutive months. That means it won't be long before inflation excluding fresh food and energy falls below the Bank of Japan's 2% target, Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a commentary.

He added that it was unlikely the central bank would be able to raise its key rate, especially since it raised it to a range of zero to 0.1 percent, from minus 0.1 % in March.

The story continues

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.5% to 18,590.33, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9% to 3,088.87.

The rally in property stocks following the announcement of new support measures for the struggling sector proved short-lived, with market participants questioning whether it would be enough to end a prolonged crisis in the property sector.

Shares of China Vanke, a major developer, fell 6%, as did the Hong Kong-traded shares of Shimao Group Holdings, another major real estate company. Agile Group Holdings fell 8%.

South Korea's Kospi fell 1.3% to 2,687.60, while in Australia the S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.1% to 7,727.60.

Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.2% after hitting a record high on Thursday.

In other trading Friday morning, U.S. benchmark crude oil fell 14 cents to $76.73 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. He earned 30 cents on Thursday.

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 18 cents to $81.18 a barrel.

The US dollar rose from 156.96 to 157.08 Japanese yen. The euro rose from $1.0817 to $1.0844.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 index fell 0.7%, its biggest decline since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.5% and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%.