Wall Street to open lower for second day as oil retreats

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open lower for the second straight day on Friday as oil prices retreated and worries about global growth pushed investors to seek refuge in safe haven assets.

Despite higher demand, oil eased as traders booked profits after a three-day winning streak that started Monday and pushed prices to 2016 highs, and as the dollar moved higher. [O/R]

Wall Street ended lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow also snapping a three-day rally as lower oil prices wiped the sheen off materials and energy stocks as well as global growth fears.

Global issues, including uncertainty over interest rate hikes and the impending vote on Britain's membership in the European Union, have kept investors cautious.

The yield on government bonds fell globally, while gold prices held near a three-week high.

"I think its the fear factor (on global issues) that is pushing stocks a little bit," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

"The British exit is beginning to become more of a factor now and that's due to the fact that we have crumbling yields throughout the globe."

Dow e-minis were down 92 points, or 0.51 percent at 7:57 a.m. ET (1157 GMT), with 15,766 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were down 12.5 points, or 0.59 percent, with 146,166 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 32.25 points, or 0.71 percent, on volume of 12,752 contracts.

Even with the reversal in major indexes on Thursday, all three major indexes are on track to finish the week higher and the S&P 500 is 17 points away from its record intraday high.

Among economic data on tap for the day is preliminary consumer sentiment index in the United States, which is expected to come in at 94.0 in June, compared to 94.7 last month. The data is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Urban Outfitters falls nearly 9 percent to $25.50 premarket after the apparel retailer's disappointing sales report.

Mattress Firm dropped 13 percent to $29.19 after posting a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss.

Among the gainers, tax preparer H&R Block rose 4.3 percent on better-than-expected quarterly sales.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)