Wall Street Set To Open Moderately Higher

Trading on Friday might be impacted by reaction to the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report, as well as earnings reports.

Initial cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive.

Asian shares finished mostly higher on Friday, while European shares are trading positive.

As of 7.45 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 102.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were gaining 10.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 33.50 points.

The U.S. major averages reached new highs for the session. The Dow jumped 318.19 points or 0.9 percent to 34,548.53, the Nasdaq rose 50.42 points or 0.4 percent to 13,632.84 and the S&P 500 climbed 34.03 points or 0.8 percent to 4,201.62.

On the economic front, the Labor Department’s Employment Situation for April will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for non-farm payrolls is 938,000, while it was up 916,000 in the prior month. The unemployment rate is expected to be up 5.8 percent, while it was up 6.0 percent in the prior month.

The Commerce Department’s Wholesale Inventories (Preliminary) for March will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 1.4 percent, while it was up 0.6 percent in the prior month.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be released at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 491, while the U.S. rig count was up 440 in the previous week.

The Fed Consumer Credit for March will be issued at 3.00 pm ET. The consensus is for $17.7 billion, while it was up $27.6 billion

Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Friday. China’s Shanghai Composite index dropped 22.41 points, or 0.65 percent, to 3,418.87. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended down 26.81 points at 28,610.65.

China’s exports grew more than expected in April as global demand remained strong.
Japanese shares ended little changed. The Nikkei average edged up by 26.45 points to finish at 29,357.82. The broader Topix index closed 0.29 percent higher at 1,933.05.

Australian markets eked out modest gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 19.10 points, or 0.27 percent, to 7,080.80, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 19.20 points, or 0.26 percent, at 7,325.20.

European shares are trading higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is progressing 13.11 points or 0.21 percent. The German DAX is adding 193.93 points or 0.42 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is gaining 44.86 points or 0.63 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is adding 46.29 points or 0.42 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.57 percent.

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