August 10, 2012-Stocks Trade Lower on Weak China Data

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Friday, with sentiment reflecting doubts about the resilience of the economy to weather the encircling threats. China, which was touted to be redeemer of the global economy, is seeing a cyclical slowdown. The fiscal cliff facing the domestic economy is not boding well for it. Against this backdrop, the recent run up could be best be termed as logic defying and could make traders cautious before they could contemplate their next moves. U.S. stocks moved about in a lackluster fashion yet again on Thursday before closing on a mixed note. The major U.S. averages opened slightly lower despite the release of positive trade balance and jobless claims data. Although the averages moved above the unchanged line, they declined by the mid-session. The averages pared back their losses yet moved in an uneasy manner before closing mixed.