New York - US stock index futures dropped on Friday, putting the S&P 500 on track for a second week of declines, in the wake of a selloff in emerging market assets as expectations grew that the Federal Reserve will trim its stimulus measures further next week.
* As many market participants expect the Fed to continue to wind down its stimulus measures by an additional $10 billion a month next week, investors will look to less risky assets such as US bonds, expecting interest rates will begin to rise.
* A rout in emerging market assets spread to developed countries in Europe on worries over Fed policy, slowing growth in China and amid political problems in Turkey, Argentina and Ukraine.
* The Turkish lira hit a fresh record low and the South African rand hit a new five-year low against the dollar.
US-listed shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. fell 4.7 percent to $12.08 in premarket trade a day after the country's peso currency suffered its steepest daily decline in 12 years.
* Argentina's government said Friday it would loosen strict foreign exchange controls, after it abandoned its long-standing policy of supporting the peso currency by intervening in the foreign exchange market earlier this week.
That resulted in the currency's steepest plunge since the 2002 financial crisis.
* The S&P 500 is down 0.6 percent for the week, putting it on pace for back-to-back weekly losses for the first time since September.
* Nine companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to report earnings on Friday.
Procter & Gamble Co edged down 0.04 percent in light premarket trading after the world's largest household products maker reported a lower quarterly profit but left its 2014 sales growth forecast unchanged.
* Microsoft Corp gained 2.7 percent to $37.01 before the opening bell after the world's largest software company posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit.
* S&P 500 e-mini futures fell 13.5 points and were below 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 dropped 111 points and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 27.25 points.
* Honeywell International Inc posted a higher fourth-quarter profit as sales increased across major segments of the diversified US manufacturer.
* European shares slipped to a one-week low, with stocks exposed to emerging markets hit by a rout in Latin American currencies and banks losing ground on concerns about their earnings outlook.
* Asian shares slumped to a 4-1/2 month low, extending the previous day's weakness, amid worries over Chinese economic growth and the decline in emerging market currencies. - Reuters