Futures Point To Bounce Back For Wall Street

Existing Home Sales for January might attract some attention on Friday.

Initial cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open higher.
Asian shares finished broadly up, while European shares are trading mostly lower.

As of 7.40 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 90.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were gaining 15.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were adding 74.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished the Thursday well off their lows but stuck in the red. The Dow fell 119.68 points or 0.4 percent to 31,493.34, the Nasdaq slid 100.14 points or 0.7 percent to 13,865.36 and the S&P 500 dropped 17.36 points or 0.4 percent to 3,913.97.

On the economic front, IHS Markit’s flash composite Purchasing Managers’ Index or PMI for February will be issued at 9.45 am ET. The consensus is for 57.9, while it was up 58.0 in the prior month.

National Association of Realtors’ Existing Home Sales for January will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for 6.60 million, while it was up 6.76 million in the previous month.

E-Commerce Retail Sales for the fourth quarter is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. In the prior quarter, the retail sales were down 1.00 percent.

The Baker Hughes’ Rig Count for the week will be released at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America Rig Count was 573 and the U.S. Rig Count was 397.

Asian stocks ended broadly lower. Chinese markets ended higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index closed up 20.81 points, or 0.57 percent, at 3,696.17, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 0.16 percent higher at 30,644.73.

Japanese shares fell for the third day running, with a firmer yen and rising bond yields weighing on markets. The Nikkei average dropped 218.17 points, or 0.72 percent, to 30,017.92, while the broader Topix index closed 0.67 percent lower at 1,928.95.

Australian markets tumbled. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index lost 92.10 points, or 1.34 percent, to finish at 6,793.80, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 91.50 points, or 1.28 percent, at 7,064.

European shares are trading mostly higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the German DAX is gaining 75.28 points or 0.54 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is progressing 6.50 points or 0.10 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is down 2.10 points or 0.02 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.59 percent.