By Sam Mattera

U.S. equity futures were down in the premarket after Chinese PMI came in at 50.10 Thursday night, worse than the 50.2 that was expected. The fiscal sequestration is also set to go into effect today.

In other news, Italian PMI came in below expectations at 45.8; expectations were for 47.60.

French PMI was reported better than expected at 43.9; expectations were for 43.6.

German PMI beat expectations at 50.3, more than the 50.1 that economists were anticipating.

• S&P 500 futures down about 8.50 points at 1504.75.
• The EUR/USD was lower at 1.3002.
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Asian markets
Asian shares were generally lower following the disappointing Chinese PMI report. The Hong Kong Hang Seng slipped 0.61%, while the Shanghai Composite was down 0.17%. The exception was Japan's Nikkei 225, which rallied 0.41%.

European markets
European shares were broadly lower. The FTSE shed about 0.73%, while the DAX fell 1.07%.

Commodities
Commodities largely down. Gold fell 0.59% to trade at $1568.80, while silver shed a more dramatic 1.25% to trade at $28.03. Crude oil dropped 1.68% to $90.50 and natural gas slumped 0.40% to trade at $3.4720. Copper and palladium were most severely hit. Copper fell 2.03% while palladium shed 2.17%.

Currencies
The U.S. dollar showed relative strength on Friday, with the dollar index rallying 0.44% to 82.36. The GBP/USD and EUR/USD were both big losers, falling 0.82% and 0.44%, respectively. At the same time, the USD/CHF rose 0.56% and EUR/GBP added 0.35%.

Premarket movers
Stocks moving in the premarket included:

• Groupon (GRPN) shares were up nearly 5% after CEO Andrew Mason was fired Thursday night.
• Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) shares rallied over 7% in the premarket after falling over 11% Thursday. Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded the stock to a "buy" rating.
• Best Buy (BBY) shares rallied over 2% after reporting better than expected earnings.
• Salesforce (CRM) shares were up over 4% after posting earnings Thursday night.

Economics
On the economics calendar Friday, investors personal income and personal spending are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET At 9 a.m. ET, the U.S. manufacturing PMI will be released. At 9:55 a.m. ET, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment indicator will be reported. Then, at 10 a.m. ET, ISM manufacturing is set to be released.

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