Wall Street Might Open Broadly Up

Even on the eve of US-Iran talks to settle the Middle East conflict, Israel continues to attack Lebanon on Friday.

Despite the ceasefire only seven ships passed through the strait of Hormuz last day. Donald Trump has warned Tehran against charging fees on oil tankers.

In the Asian trading session, gold steadied. The dollar headed for its largest weekly drop since January.

Brent crude prices rose nearly 2 percent toward $98 a barrel.

Initial trends from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly up.

As of 7.50 am ET, the Dow futures were down 19.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were gaining 3.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were adding 28.50 points.

The U.S. major averages closed higher on Thursday. The Nasdaq advanced 187.42 points or 0.8 percent to 22,822.42, the Dow climbed 275.88 points or 0.6 percent to 48,185.80 and the S&P 500 rose 41.85 points or 0.6 percent to 6,824.66.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index for CPI for March will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 0.9 percent, while it was up 0.3 percent in the prior month.

The Consumer Sentiment for April will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 52.0, while in March the Index was up 53.3.

The Commerce Department’s delayed Factory Orders for February will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 0.4 percent, while it was up 0.1 percent in January.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be revealed at 1.00 pm ET. The North America rig count was 690, while the U.S. rig count was 548.

The Treasury Statement for March will be issued at 2.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the Balance was a deficit of $307.5 billion.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday. China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 0.51 percent to 3,986.22. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.55 percent to close at 25,893.54.

Japanese markets rallied. The Nikkei average jumped 1.84 percent to 56,924.11 while the broader Topix index settled marginally lower at 3,739.85.

Australian markets ended slightly lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.14 percent to 8,960.60. The broader All Ordinaries index also closed 0.14 percent lower at 9,155.80.

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