Wall Street Aims To Open Positive

The Consumer sentiments, Import and Export prices as well as Housing Starts data might be the highlights on Friday.

Initial trends on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open higher.

In the Asian trading session, gold prices fell nearly 1 percent while oil held steady.

Asian shares ended trading mostly down, while European shares are trading positive.

As of 8.15 am ET, the Dow futures were progressing 157.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were gaining 22.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were slightly up 92.00 points.

The U.S. major averages finished broadly up on Thursday. The Nasdaq dipped 34.49 points or 0.2 percent to 19,112.32, the S&P 500 rose 24.35 points or 0.4 percent to 5,916.93 and the Dow climbed 271.69 points or 0.7 percent at 42,322.75.

On the economic front, the Housing Starts and Permits for April will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 1.362 million, while it was up 1.324 million in March.

The Labor Department’s Import and Export Prices for April will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.3 percent, while it as down 0.1 percent in the prior month.

The Consumer Sentiment for May will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 53.0, while it was up 52.2 in the previous month.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is scheduled at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North Amrica rig count was 692, while the U.S. rig count was 578.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly will give commencement address at the College of Western Idaho at 6.00 pm ET.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin will give commencement address at Vance-Granville Community College at 8.40 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Friday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.4 percent to 3,367.46.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended down 0.5 percent at 23,345.05.

Japanese markets ended on a flat note. The Nikkei 225 Index finished marginally lower at 37,753.72, while the broader Topix Index ended with a positive bias at 2,740.45.

Australian markets finished higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.6 percent to 8,343.70. The broader All Ordinaries Index settled 0.6 percent higher at 8,579.90.

European shares are trading higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is adding 28.82 points or 0.37 percent. The German DAX is climbing 92.91 points or 0.39 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is progressing 34.92 points or 0.40 percent.
The Swiss Market Index is climbing 85.11 points or 0.70 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.32 percent.

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