MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks: Futures Slip Ahead Of Yellen Speech

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures slipped Friday before Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen was set to capture center stage at a high-profile gathering of the world's central bankers.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) were off 2 points at 17,014, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPU4) shed 1 point to 1,988.90. Nasdaq 100 index (NDU4) futures gave up less than 1 point at 4,047.00.

The major benchmarks are on track to log weekly advances of at least 1.5% each. Thursday's session ended with the S&P 500 Index (SPX) marking its 28th record closing high this year and the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF)ending at its highest level since March 31, 2000.

Journey to Jackson Hole: Yellen, at her speech at the annual gathering of central bankers in Wyoming, is expected to focus on the labor market. Her remarks are slated to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Yellen has previously outlined the lineup of indicators she's watching to gauge the health of the labor market, including wages and the number of people working part time who want to work full-time.

The "hawkish noises coming out of the recent [Fed] meeting minutes will add extra spice to what Yellen has to say," said Richard Perry, market analyst at Hantec Markets, in a Friday note. "It would be surprising if she did anything other than hold a steady ship and that the Fed will maintain an accommodative monetary policy for a considerable period of time."

Minutes of the Fed's meeting in July, released this week, showed senior officials are becoming increasingly divided on how fast the labor market is improving. But many Fed policy makers believe more improvement is needed before they begin raising interest rates, said Perry.

Several regional Fed presidents, including San Francisco Fed President John Williams and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, will offer their own views on the outlook of monetary policy.

Also set to speak Friday is European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda was expected to address reporters.

There are no major economic reports on Friday's schedule.

Stocks to watch: Ahead of the bell, Foot Locker (FL) is expected to report earnings of 54 cents a share for its second quarter, according to a FactSet consensus estimate.

Gap (GPS) shares late Thursday rose after the apparel maker's quarterly adjusted earnings of 70 cents a share came in a penny a share ahead of expectations.

Ross Stores (ROST) said second-quarter earnings rose 12%. The discounter also raised its full-year earnings projection.

Clothing retailer Aéropostale (ARO) forecast a wider-than-expected loss for the fiscal third quarter.

GameStop (GME) shares climbed in Thursday evening after the videogame retailer's third-quarter earnings forecast outpaced estimates.

Other markets: Oil futures (CLV4) slipped and gold futures (GCZ4) edged up. In Asia overnight, Japan's Nikkei Average broke a nine-session winning streak, and in Europe, the Stoxx 600 was modestly lower.

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