07:32 AM EDT, 08/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures slipped before Friday's open as investors parse the latest retail sales data and await new catalysts to determine the market direction.

The S&P 500 futures edged down 0.1% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq were slightly in the red. Asian exchanges were tracking in the green, while the majority of European bourses were pointing higher.

US retail sales grew more than expected in July, driven by gains in spending on cars and electronics, data from the Census Bureau showed Thursday.

Shares of Applied Materials ( AMAT ) declined 3.3% pre-bell even though the semiconductor equipment supplier reported stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results. PropertyGuru's ( PGRU ) US-listed stock gained 5.6% as the company agreed to be acquired by affiliates of EQT's BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII in an all-cash deal valuing the online real estate company at about $1.1 billion.

Flowers Foods ( FLO ) , RLX Technology ( RLX ) , Madison Square Garden Entertainment ( MSGE ) and CI&T ( CINT ) report their latest financial results before the bell, among others.

On the economic calendar, the housing starts and permits data for July is out at 8:30 am ET, followed by the preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment report for August at 10 am. The weekly Baker Hughes domestic oil-and-gas rig count posts at 1 pm.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee is scheduled to speak at 1:25 pm.

Before the opening bell, bitcoin traded up 2.4% at $58,430, West Texas Intermediate crude oil decreased 2.4% to $76.31 a barrel, yields on 10-year Treasuries dropped 5.5 basis points to 3.87% and gold rose 0.4% to $2,503 an ounce.