Wall Street set for lower open as oil, earnings in focus

By Abhiram Nandakumar

REUTERS - U.S. stocks were set to open lower on Friday as investors worried about whether a potential deal by major oil producers to freeze output would be enough to tackle a global oversupply.

Crude was down more than 2 percent ahead of Sunday's meeting in Doha, led by top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The nervousness about the outcome of the meeting overshadowed positive Chinese data, which showed the country's gross domestic product grew 6.7 percent in the first quarter in another sign that Asia's largest economy was on the mend.

Citigroup reported a fall in quarterly profit, which topped analysts' estimates. The stock jumped 2.5 percent to $46.11 in premarket trading.

The S&P financial sector, which has been lagging other major sectors this year, has jumped 4.3 percent this week as big banks faced tempered expectations for quarterly earnings.

"We had the sharp reflex rally this week, particularly in the finance sector, as people perceived results that were less bad than what was expected," said James Abate, chief investment office of Centre Funds in New York.

"People are going to digest what's happened thus far with the major banks, as well as Alcoa and some of the major industrial companies," he said.

At 8:32 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 18 points, or 0.1 percent, with 16,255 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis were down 3 points, or 0.14 percent, with 146,479 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 6.5 points, or 0.14 percent, on 14,744 contracts.

Wall Street closed nearly flat on Thursday, with the S&P 500 closing at its highest since early December.

A surge in oil and signs that the U.S. economy was recovering has helped the S&P 500 recoup early losses. The index is up nearly 2 percent for the year and is just over 51 points shy of its all-time high.

Investors will also watch for comments on the global economy from finance ministers and central bankers at the three-day Spring Meetings in Washington held by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Data on Friday is expected to show U.S. industrial production slipped 0.1 percent in March, following a 0.5 percent drop in February. The report is due at 09:15 a.m. ET (1315 GMT).

Shares of 3D Systems were down 3.4 percent at $17.65 after Citigroup cut its rating on the stock.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan and Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)