U.S. Stocks May See Further Upside In Early Trading

Stocks are likely to move to the upside in early trading on Friday, extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.2 percent.

Optimism about the outlook for interest rates may contribute to continued strength on Wall Street ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week.

The Fed is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision next week and is almost universally expected to lower interest rates by at least 25 basis points.

Recent inflation has partly offset optimism the Fed will lower rates more aggressively, but the central bank is still expected to continue cutting rates over the next several months.

Potentially adding to the interest rate optimism, a report released by the Labor Department showed import prices in the U.S. decreased by slightly more than expected in the month of August.

The Labor Department said import prices fell by 0.3 percent in August after inching up by 0.1 percent n July. Economists had expected import prices to dip by 0.2 percent.

The report also showed a notable decline by export prices, which slid by 0.7 percent in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.5 percent in July.

Economists had expected export prices to edge down by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Not long after the start of trading, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its preliminary reading on consumer sentiment in the month of September.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index is expected to inch up to 68.0 in September after rising to 67.9 in August.

After turning in a lackluster performance early in the session, stocks moved notably higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 added to strong gains posted in Wednesday’s session, closing higher for the fourth straight day.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 174.15 points or 1.0 percent to 17,569.68, the S&P 500 advanced 41.63 points or 0.8 percent to 5,595.76 and the Dow climbed 235.06 points or 0.6 percent to 41,096.77.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.8 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased by 0.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index are both up by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.88 to $69.85 a barrel after jumping $1.66 to $68.97 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after surging $38.20 to $2,569.10 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $16.60 to $2,597.20 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 140.88 yen versus the 141.82 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1081 compared to yesterday’s $1.1074.