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New York - US stock index futures advanced modestly on Friday, after Wall Street began the new year with a decline and investors grappled with a snowstorm that blasted the northeastern United States.
US stocks fell on their first day of trading in 2014 as investors booked profits in the wake of the S&P 500's best annual advance since 1997, with many of last year's strongest performers down on the day.
Snowstorm
After closing 2013 with a gain of 29.6%, its best annual performance since 1997, the S&P 500 opened the year with a decline of 0.89%, as each of the ten major S&P sectors lost ground.
Market volume, already expected to be on the light side as many market participants remain out of the office due to the New Year's holiday-interrupted week, will likely be anaemic after a snowstorm caused more than 1 000 US flight delays and cancellations, paralysed road travel and closed schools and government offices.
Fair value
"Slow just got slower. This session is not going to be anything to get excited about," said Keith Bliss, senior vice president at Cuttone & Co in New York.
"Thursday's session was interesting in that it was low volume and the sell-off we had was nothing to get too panicked about."
S&P 500 futures rose 3.9 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 32 points and Nasdaq 100 futures added 6 points.
