U.S. Stocks May Move Back To The Upside In Early Trading

After ending the previous session sharply lower, stocks may move back to the upside in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 264 points.

Traders may look to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the weakness seen on Thursday, which reflected concerns about the global economy.

The markets may also benefit from recent upward momentum, which has helped propel the major averages to record highs despite lingering uncertainty about the outlook for monetary policy.

A rebound by treasury yields may also generate early buying interest, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note bouncing off its lowest closing level since February.

Yields have fallen sharply in recent sessions amid indications the Federal Reserve is not in a hurry to begin scaling back its asset purchase program.

Shortly after the start of trading, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on wholesale inventories in the month of May. Wholesale inventories are expected to jump by 1.1 percent.

Stocks climbed well off their worst levels after an early sell-off but still ended Thursday’s trading firmly in negative territory. With the drop on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulled back off Wednesday’s record closing highs.

After plunging by more than 500 points in early trading, the Dow ended the day down 259.86 points or 0.8 percent at 34,421.93. The Nasdaq slid 105.28 points or 0.7 percent to 14,559.79 and the S&P 500 slumped 37.31 points or 0.9 percent to 4,320.82.

In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw further downside during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.6 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi tumbled by 1.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have shown strong moves back to the upside. While the French CAC 40 Index has surged up by 1.7 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.9 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.7 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.66 to $73.60 a barrel after advancing $0.74 to $72.94 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after slipping $1.90 to $1,800.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $2.90 to $1,803.10 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 109.99 yen versus the 109.72 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1860 compared to yesterday’s $1.1845.