DJIA futures down 34 points (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 18 Jun - US futures were treading water ahead of retail data and a raft of Federal Reserve speakers.

Wall Street posted more records yesterday as technology stocks continued to pull markets higher. The S&P 500 ended up 0.8%, the Dow was up 0.5% while the tech-heavy Nasdaw closed 1% higher to rack up its sixth straight record close.

Today's retail sales data for May will provide insight into the health of the US consumer while industrial production and business inventory data will shine light on how the real economy is faring amid concern over a possible sharp economic slowdown.

Investors will also be keeping a close eye on commentary from a slew of Fed policymakers scheduled to speak during the day for clues on where interest rates may be heading. Speakers include voting committee members Thomas Barkin and Adriana Kugler, as well as Susan Collins, Austan Goolsbee, Lorie Logan, and Alberto Musalem.

Interest rates continue to be the market-s main focus of interest after the Federal Reserve indicated there would probably be just one rate cut this year, instead of a previously signalled three, as inflation continues to come down only slowly.

On the stocks front, shares in home builder Lennar were down 3% in premarket trading after it provided a disappointing outlook while NextEra Energy was down more than 5% extending yesterday's losses after announcing a sale of 2 billion dollar equity units at 50 dollars.

Futures on the Dow Jones were down 34.00 points, or 0.09%, S&P 500 futures were down 1.00 point, or 0.02%, while futures on the Nasdaq were 26.25 points, or 0.13%, higher.

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(RADIOCOR) 18-06-24 14:04:41 (0420) 5 NNNN