U.S. Stocks Poised To Extend Recent Upward Trend In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks may 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 slightly higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.1 percent.

The markets may continue to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has lifted the major averages to new record highs despite the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.

Traders seem to have shrugged off concerns about the economic impact of the shutdown even as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned it could hurt U.S. economic growth.

"This isn't the way to have a discussion, shutting down the government and lowering the GDP," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC "Squawk Box." "We could see a hit to the GDP, a hit to growth and a hit to working America."

The potentially bigger impact for the markets could be the delay of the release of some key U.S. economic data, including the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report that was scheduled to be released this morning.

"There is growing expectation that the shutdown in Washington might continue until mid-October, with the scheduled jobs report due out today unlikely to be released," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

He added, "How long investors remain relaxed about this state of affairs remains hard to predict, but one worry is that it makes it significantly harder for the Federal Reserve to make informed decisions around interest rates."

Not long after the start of trading, the Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on service sector activity in the month of September.

The ISM's services PMI is expected to edge down to 51.7 in September from 52.0 in August, but a reading above 50 would still indicate growth.

Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Thursday before once again ending the day mostly higher. With the upward move, the major averages closed higher for the fifth straight session, reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages all finished the day in positive territory. The Nasdaq climbed 88.89 points or 0.4 percent to 22,844.05, the Dow rose 78.62 points or 0.2 percent to 46,519.72 and the S&P 500 inched up 4.15 points or 0.1 percent to 6,715.35.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 1.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.5 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are rising $0.25 to $60.73 a barrel after tumbling $1.30 to $60.48 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after slumping $29.40 to $3,868.10 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $17.90 to $3,886 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 147.35 yen versus the 147.23 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1730 compared to yesterday's $1.1714.