Here are 4 tips for today's trading. This will help you decide where you should invest and what to look for:
1. Market overview
1. Market overview
U.S. stock futures are inching up ahead of the open.
Oil prices are slipping a tad, trading around $30.50 per barrel.
Gold prices, which have jumped about 15% this year, are holding steady around $1,222 per ounce.
European markets aren't making any big moves in early trading, while Asian markets ended the week with mixed results.
2. Watching currencies
2. Watching currencies
Traders are keenly monitoring moves in the euro and British pound as U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron tries to renegotiate his nation's membership in the European Union. All 28 EU nations will have to unanimously agree to any changes so it's unclear if any deal will be reached before the weekend.
Cameron is working to secure more favorable terms for his country on issues like migration. He plans to hold a referendum by the end of 2017 asking Britons whether the U.K. should stay or leave the EU.
The British pound has steadily fallen by about 10% versus the euro since November as markets worry about a potential British exit, or Brexit, from the European Union.
3. Oil Prices are falling again
3. Oil Prices are falling again
Oil futures fell in Asian trade on Friday as a record build in U.S. crude stocks stoked concerns about global oversupply, outweighing moves by oil producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia to cap oil output.
U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels last week, to a peak of 504.1 million barrels, the third week of record highs in the past month, data from the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Thursday.
That came as Iraq's oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Thursday that talks would continue between OPEC and non-OPEC members to find ways to restore "normal" oil prices following a meeting on Wednesday.
4. Economy and recap
4. Economy and recap
On the economic front, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release inflation data for January at 8:30 a.m. ET. If the figure indicates inflation is heading toward 2%, that could boost the odds of another interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve in March.
The latest December data showed annual inflation hovering around 0.7%.
Stocks broke their bullish streak and ended Thursday in the red. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 40 points. The S&P 500 shed 0.5%, while the Nasdaq closed 1% lower.
