Futures Point To Positive Open For Wall Street

The consumer Price Inflation report, as well as the Consumer Sentiment for December, might get special attention on Friday.

Investors are also looking ahead to the FOMC meeting next week.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive.
Asian shares finished lower, while European shares are trading mostly up.

As of 7.00 am ET, the Dow futures were up 109.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 18.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 63.75 points.

On Thursday, U.S. major stocks finished lower. The Nasdaq showed a significant move to the downside, while the Dow ended the day nearly flat. The Nasdaq tumbled 269.62 points or 1.7 percent to 15,517.37 and the S&P 500 slid 33.76 points or 0.7 percent to 4,667.45. Meanwhile, the Dow edged down by just 0.06 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 35,754.69.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index or CPI for November will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.7 percent, while it was up 0.9 percent in the prior month.

Consumer Sentiment for December will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for 67.0, while it was at 67.4 in November.

The Quarterly Services Survey for the third quarter will be released at 10.00 am ET. In the prior quarter, the selected services revenue increased 3.9 percent.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is scheduled at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America Rig count was 749 and the U.S. Rig Count was 569.

The Treasury Statement for November will be released at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $187.0 billion, while the deficit in the prior month was $165.1 billion.

Asian stocks ended lower on Friday. Chinese shares ended lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index slipped 6.69 points, or 0.18 percent, to 3,666.35 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended down 259.14 points, or 1.07 percent, at 23,995.72.

Japanese shares tumbled. The Nikkei average fell 287.70 points, or 1.0 percent, to 28,437.77, but posted a 1.46 percent gain for the week. The broader Topix index ended 0.77 percent lower at 1,975.48.

Australian markets ended lower, dragged down by energy and technology stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 31 points, or 0.42 percent, to 7,353.50, but recorded a weekly gain of 1.6 percent. The broader All Ordinaries index ended down 21.50 points, or 0.28 percent, at 7,667.90.

European shares are trading mostly higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is sliding 0.11 points or 0.00 percent. The German DAX is adding 28.50 points or 0.19 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is gaining 0.81 points or 0.01 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is losing 12.56 points or 0.11 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is progressing 0.078 percent.

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