RTRS: U.S. stock index futures signal drop after strong rally
U.S. share prices were indicated opening lower on Friday, surrendering some of the hefty gains made in the previous session after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes touched five-year lows that triggered a wave of bargain hunting.
* Energy shares will feel the pinch of falling oil prices CLc1 as the focus was switching back to fears over the prospect of a prolonged global downturn.
* Adding to the gloom, data showed on Friday that the euro zone is in its first ever technical recession after the economy contracted for the second time in a row quarter-on-quarter in the July-September period.
* By 1005 GMT S&P 500 futures SPc1 were down 1.6 percent, Dow Jones futures DJc1 down 1.5 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures NDc1 down 0.7 percent.
* U.S. stocks surged on Thursday as the indexes' fresh technical lows prompted investors to put aside worries about the gloomy economic outlook and scoop up recently-hammered shares.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI jumped 552.59 points, or 6.67 percent, to 8,835.25, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX surged 58.99 points, or 6.92 percent, to 911.29, and the Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC climbed 97.49 points, or 6.50 percent, to 1,596.70.
* Companies reporting earnings on Friday include Abercrombie & Fitch Co (ANF.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and JC Penney Co Inc (JCP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), while on the macroeconomic front, investors awaited October retail sales figures and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index.
* The market was bracing for more bad news on retail sales. Government figures for October are likely to show that sales fell 2.0 percent after a 1.2 percent decline in September, according to the median forecast of 82 economists polled by Reuters. The fall in September was the biggest monthly decline in more than three years.
* World leaders headed to Washington on Friday to discuss ways to shield the global economy from a repeat of the worst financial crisis in 80 years.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by David Cowell)