Dow Futures Slip; Oil Prices Drop on Trump Tweet

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading modestly below fair value, as pre-market downside for tech stocks Apple (AAPL) and Intel (INTC) overpowers a positive earnings reaction for General Electric (GE). Nevertheless, the Dow, S&P 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are all on track for weekly wins. Crude is also pacing for a weekly gain, even as the May-dated contract trades down 0.6% at $67.85 per barrel, after a tweet from President Donald Trump implied the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is artificially boosting oil prices, saying it's "No good and will not be accepted!"

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

• The Dow stock headed for its best week since October 2016.
• This retail stock could be ready to rally.
• How one options trader profited from the chip stock sell-off.
• Plus, Skechers braces for a post-earnings shock; the latest tech stock to trade; and Gentex revenue disappoints.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.13 million call contracts traded on Thursday -- the most since March 9 -- compared to 728,277 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.64, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.66.
2. Shares of Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX) are poised for a volatile trading day, after the shoe retailer issued weak current-quarter guidance. The outlook was met with a round of bearish brokerage notes, including a downgrade to "neutral" from "outperform" at Wedbush. After closing last night at $42.08, SKX stock is down 23.4% in electronic trading.
3. Pivotal Software Inc. will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker PVTL. The cloud software company -- which is majority-owned by DellEMC -- priced its initial public offering at $15 per share earlier today, which values the company at about $3.8 billion.
4. Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) reported first-quarter profit of 40 cents per share that arrived in line with the consensus estimate, though the electronics firm's revenue for the three-month period arrived at a lower-than-expected $465.4 million. GNTX stock is 5.8% lower in pre-market trading
5. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and San Francisco Fed President John Williams are scheduled to speak. Honeywell (HON), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Schlumberger (SLB), TransUnion (TRU), and Waste Management (WM) will unveil quarterly reports, while several FAANG names headline next week's earnings line-up.

Sinking Tech Stocks Weighed on Asian Markets

Stocks in Asia finished lower to close out the week, as markets extended the tech-led decline sparked yesterday by Taiwan Semiconductor. Chip stock Screen Holdings lost 4.8% in Tokyo, while SK Hynix shed 4% in Seoul.  Japan's Nikkei fell by 0.1%, with losses limited by a declining yen, and South Korea's Kospi gave back 0.4%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.9%, while China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.5%, as financial and automaker stocks joined in on the decline.

European markets are mixed at midday, as investors digest a fresh slate of earnings and economic data. London's FTSE 100 is up 0.4% at last check, despite a 5.5% drop from Reckitt Benckiser after a sales growth miss. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney applied further pressure to the pound with some relatively dovish remarks to the BBC, which lowered expectations for a rate hike next month. Elsewhere, the French CAC 40 is also sporting a 0.4% lead, while the German DAX is bucking the regional trend to trade 0.3% lower.