The data calendar was light for Friday, with only producer prices for November coming out. Stock futures have slightly trimmed their moderate gains after the reading on wholesale prices.
The readings on producers prices were in line with the forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch, signaling that inflation has stabilized at low levels. The Labor Department said wholesale prices fell for the third straight month in November, as prices declined for energy. The core producer-price index, which excludes food and energy, increased a slim 0.1%.
On Thursday, the House passed a budget bill geared at avoiding a government shutdown and easing spending limits in the next two years. Senate approval is expected next week. The budget accord is one factor that has driven some investors to bet that the Fed could be ready to pare back on its bond-buying program at next week’s meeting.
Strong economic signals are also a factor in the view the Fed could taper early, with Thursday’s upbeat retail sales data contributing to a third-straight drop for major indexes. The Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ:COMP)  closed below 4,000 for the first time since Nov. 25. All indexes are looking at weekly declines of more than 1.5%.
“Arguably with limited fundamental data on the list for today the chances are we’re going to be left with a lackluster end to the week’s trade. U.S. treasury yields are now trending higher suggesting more support that we’ll see the tapering get under way next week so any further clues here could be worth watching,” said analysts at Monex Capital in a note.
“I welcome a few shallow retracements along the way,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive at Sarhan Capital, in emailed comments Friday, referring to stocks being on pace for their second straight down week. He added that the S&P 500 is only showing a drop of about 2% for the past two weeks, showing “the bulls remain in control of this market.”

Among individual stocks, shares of Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC)  fell 1% in premarket trading following late-session losses. Bloomberg reported, citing a source, that Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)  may be considering a plan to make its own server chips, using technology from ARM Holdings PLC (LSS:UK:ARM)   (NASDAQ:ARMH) . Shares of ARM were up about 3% in London.
Shares of Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)  jumped 6% in premarket trading after the company reported late Thursday that fourth-quarter profit fell to 13 cents a share, but Creative Cloud subscribers rose by a better-than-expected 402,000 to 1.4 million.
Shares of Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (USC:RH)  fell 9% in premarket trading. A day earlier, the company said one of its co-chief executives, Carlos Alberini, will resign just ahead of posting results.
Andarko (NYSE:APC)   was down 11% after a bankruptcy court said the company could be liable for at least $5 billion in a lawsuit related to its 2006 acquisition. J.P. Morgan also downgraded Andarko to underweight from neutral, citing the court ruling.
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wall-street-eyes-small-rebound-ahead-of-weekend-2013-12-13/print?guid=43577CFC-63DA-11E3-999D-00212803FAD6