Futures Points To Broadly Higher Open For Wall Street

The existing home sales and other economic data might be influencing the market sentiments on Friday.

Asian shares finished mostly up, while European shares are trading positive. In the Asian trading hours, gold dipped from record highs and the dollar faced a decline. Oil is gaining.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about a possible trade with China might have an influence on markets.

As of 7.50 am ET, the Dow futures were down 176 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 4.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 71.25 points.

The U.S. major averages finished lower on Thursday. The S&P 500 ended down 26.63 points or 0.4 percent at 19,962.36. The Nasdaq fell 93.89 points or 0.5 percent to 19,962.36.

On the economic front, the PMI Composite Flash for February will be released at 9.45 am ET. In the prior month, the Composite Index was at 52.7. The consensus for Manufacturing Index is 51.3, while the consensus for Services Index is 53.0.

The Existing Home Sales for January will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for 4.16 million, while it was up 4.24 million in December.

The Consumer Sentiment for February will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for 68.0, while it was up 67.8 in the prior month.

The Quarterly Services Survey for the fourth quarter is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. In the prior quarter, the selected services revenue was up 2.2 percent, and information revenue grew by 2.2 percent.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be revealed at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 833 and the U.S. rig count was 588.

Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson will speak on ‘Central Bank Communication’ before the Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco at 11.30 am ET.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly will give opening remarks before the Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco at 11.30 am ET.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday. China’s Shanghai Composite index gained 0.85 percent to close at 3,379.11.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 3.99 percent to 23,477.92.

Japanese markets eked out. The Nikkei average rose 0.26 percent to 38,776.94. The broader Topix index finished marginally higher at 2,736.53.

Australian markets ended slightly lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.32 percent to 8,296.20 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.36 percent lower at 8,570.90.

European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is progressing 32.72 points or 0.40 percent. DAX of Germany is up 44.84 points or 0.20 percent. FTSE 100 of England is adding 7.48 points or 0.09 percent. The Swiss Market Index is gaining 95.32 points or 0.74 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.29 percent.

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