Wall Street Aims To Open Broadly Up

The December jobs reports might special attention, while geopolitical conditions continue to influence investor sentiments on Friday.

In the Asian trading session, the dollar continued to outperform its rivals.

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

As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 8.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 4.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were adding 27.25 points.

While the Dow moved back to the upside after Wednesday’s pullback, the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed lower for the first time in four sessions.

The Dow climbed 270.03 points or 0.6 percent to 49,266.11, bouncing back toward the record closing high set on Tuesday. The S&P 500 also crept up by 0.53 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,921.46, but the Nasdaq fell 104.26 points or 0.4 percent to 23,480.02.

China’s commerce ministry said the export ban on dual-use items to Japan will only affect military firms, helping ease concerns that the move could affect rare earth exports used in a wide range of products, from autos to defense equipment.

Gold ticked lower in Asian trade on dollar strength while oil extended gains ahead of Trump’s meeting with the heads of major U.S. oil companies later today to convince them to support his plans in Venezuela.

On the economic front, the Employment Situation for December will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 55,000, while it was up 64,000 in the prior month. The unemployment rate is expected to increase 4.6 percent, while it was up 4.6 percent in the prior month. The Manufacturing payrolls for December is expected to be down 10,000, while it was down 5000 in the prior month. Average hourly earnings consensus is 0.3 percent.

The Housing Starts and Permits for September will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The Starts consensus is 1.315 million and Permits consensus is 1.347 million.

The Consumer Sentiment for January will be revealed at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 53.5, while it was up 52.9.

Minneapolis Fed Bank President Neel Kashkari will give welcome remarks and participate in fireside chat before virtual 2026 Regional Economic Conditions Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis at 10.00 am ET.

Richmond Fed Bank President Tom Barkin will speak at the Maryland Bankers Association First Friday Economic Outlook Forum at 1.35 pm ET.

Asian stocks rose broadly on Friday. China’s Shanghai Composite index surged 0.92 percent to 4,120.43. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended up 0.32 percent at 26,231.79.

Japanese markets surged. The Nikkei average jumped 1.61 percent to 51,939.89 while the broader Topix index settled 0.85 percent higher at 3,514.11.

Australian markets finished marginally lower.

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