Futures Drop Friday, Head for Winning Week

Stock futures edged lower Friday after the S&P 500 hit a record closing high following President Donald Trump’s call to lower interest rates and crude prices.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dished off 108 points, or 0.2% to 44,641.Futures for the much-broader index fell 8.5 points, or 0.1%, to 6,143.75.Futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ lost 20.75 points, or 0.1%, to 22,016.50. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said Thursday that Trump’s efforts to unleash capital in the private sector could stoke inflationary pressures and prompt the benchmark 10-year rate to retest the 5% level.All three major averages are on track to post their second positive week. The Dow has gained 2.5%, and the S&P 500 has advanced 2% this week, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ is up about 2.2%.Stocks got a boost Thursday after Trump said he would “demand that interest rates drop immediately” as he addressed world leaders in Davos, Switzerland. The president also said he would ask Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations to lower the price of oil.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index let go of 0.1% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index hiked 1.9%. Oil prices gained 37 cents to $74.99 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices brightened $24.30 to $2,789.30 U.S. an ounce.