· The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 22.86 points, or 0.1 percent, to 21,784.78, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.44 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,465.1 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 4.56 points, or 0.07 percent, to 6,397.87.
Wall Street ended little changed on Thursday after a moderate late-day rally as media stocks, which slumped on negative business updates from Walt Disney and Comcast, were offset by gains in healthcare shares.
· Investors were tracking Hurricane Irma, which was bearing down on Florida on the heels of devastation in Texas caused by Hurricane Harvey.
· Irma is the latest macro event to keep pressure on U.S. equities following concerns earlier this week about geopolitical tensions involving North Korea, which sparked the biggest one-day drop for the S&P 500 in about three weeks. Adding to concerns, September historically has been the worst month for stocks, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.
· Equities in Asia searched for direction on Friday after the euro jumped following the European Central Bank putting tapering on the table on Thursday.
· Markets awaited China August trade data.
· Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.43 percent in early trade. Second-quarter gross domestic product data released earlier in the morning came in at 2.5 percent, below the 4.0 percent initially stated in a preliminary reading.
· Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi edged down 0.15 percent.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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