Futures mixed after choppy week for Wall Street

[November 17, 2017]   By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures pointed to slight losses for the S&P 500 and the Dow on Friday, a day after both indexes posted their biggest percentage gains in more than two months on the back of strong earnings and progress on U.S. tax cuts.

* Adding to pressure on U.S. markets was a Wall Street Journal report that investigators probing possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election had subpoenaed President Trump's election campaign for documents, analysts said.

* The dollar slipped to a four-week low against the yen in response. The S&P 500 <ESc1> and the Dow <1YMc1> were seen opening down almost 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq <NQc1> was slated to gain around the same amount.

* With third-quarter earnings season coming to a close and no major economic data expected, investors are focused on developments in Washington.

* The House of Representatives took important steps on Thursday toward the biggest U.S. tax-code overhaul since the 1980s, approving a broad package of tax cuts, while a Senate panel advanced its own version of the legislation.

* Oil prices rose but remained on course for their first week of losses in six, as concerns grew over Russia's support for an extension of the crude output cuts that have bolstered prices in recent months.

* A report due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT) is likely to show housing starts numbers for October edged up to 1.185 million units, compared with 1.127 million units in September.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., November 16, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

* Among early movers, Gap Inc rose about 10 percent in premarket trading after the apparel retailer reported results that beat estimates and raised 2017 earnings and same-store sales forecasts.

* Tesla shares rose 3.52 percent after the company unveiled two electric trucks and a $200,000 sports car on Thursday.* Foot Locker rose 9.45 percent ahead of its results, and Shoe Carnival  surged 16 percent after the company raised full-year earnings forecasts.

* Data analytics software maker Splunk  gained 14 percent after strong results and forecast.

* Shares of Twenty-First Century Fox  jumped 7 percent after sources said that Comcast  and Verizon had expressed interest in acquiring a significant part of the company's assets.

Futures snapshot at 6:59 a.m. ET:

* Dow e-minis were down 19 points, or 0.08 percent, with 22,522 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.75 points, or 0.07 percent, with 159,548 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 5 points, or 0.08 percent, on volume of 28,620 contracts.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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