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Oil, Earnings, Retail Sales Outlook Cap Wall Street Pre-Bell; Asia Up, Europe Flt

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Wall Street futures pointed modestly higher pre-bell Friday, as the waning earnings season and the apparently unchanged impasse in the Persian Gulf provided few catalysts for traders.

In the futures, the S&P 500 rose 0.1%, while Nasdaq inclined 0.2%, after both indices closed at all-time record highs on Thursday. The Dow Jones was off 0.2%.

The Russell 2000 index, a gauge of US small caps, was flat in the futures pre-bell, after also closing at a new zenith overnight.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded up 0.3% at $81.53, in morning hours.

Investors await the July retail sales report from Washington, slated for an 8:30 am ET release, and sure to be plumbed for clues to consumer resilience in the face of higher energy bills.

Asian exchanges traded unevenly higher overnight, with tech shares pushing Tokyo and Seoul into the green.

European bourses tracked sideways midday on the continent.

On the economic calendar, in addition to the retail sales release, is the June business inventories bulletin, and the University of Michigan August consumer sentiment report, both at 10 am ET.

The weekly Baker Hughes domestic oil-and-gas rig count posts at 1 pm.

In pre-market action, bitcoin traded at $62,772, and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.65%. Spot gold commanded $4,349 an ounce.

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