Wall Street Aims To Open Moderately Positive

Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading broadly lower.

The killing of 13 U.S. Service members and around 90 Afghani citizens in an explosion at Kabul airport and the subsequent pressure to evacuate all foreigners from the country is influencing market sentiments.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately higher.

As of 8.05 am ET, the Dow futures were up 71.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 10.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 42.25 points.

The U.S. major averages finished lower on Friday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq suffered their first losses in six sessions. The Dow ended down by 192.38 points or 0.54 percent at 35,213.12. The S&P 500 settled at 4,470.00 with a loss of 26.19 points or 0.58%, while the Nasdaq declined 96.05 points or 0.64 percent to settle at 14,945.81.

On the economic front, the Census Bureau’s International Trade in Goods (Advance) for July is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of $90.9 billion, while it was down $91.2 billion in the previous month.

The Commerce Department’s Personal Income and Outlays for July will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.1 percent in the previous month.

Retail Inventories (Advance) for July is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. In the prior month, the inventories were up 0.3 percent.

The Commerce Department’s Wholesale Inventories for July will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.8 percent in the previous month.

The Michigan University’s Consumer Sentiment report for August will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 70.9, while it was up 70.2 in July.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver his remarks at the annual Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium virtually at 10 a.m.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is expected at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North American rig count was 659 and the U.S. rig count was 503.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday. Chinese stocks advanced. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index rose 20.49 points, or 0.59 percent, to 3,522.16 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended little changed with a negative bias.

Japanese shares fell slightly, with the Nikkei average ending down 101.15 points, or 0.36 percent, at 27,641.14. The broader Topix index slipped 0.34 percent to settle at 1,928.77.

Australian shares ended marginally lower.

European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is declining 15.60 points or 0.23 percent. The German DAX is losing 10.49 points or 0.07 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is declining 12.99 points or 0.18 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is adding 10.80 points or 0.09 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.073 percent.

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