Futures Pointing To Slightly Higher Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a slightly higher open on Friday, with stocks poised to extend trend seen over the past several sessions.

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."

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.

The continued advance by the major averages partly reflected optimism about the artificial intelligence trade, which contributed to strength among tech stocks.

AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) pulled back off its best levels but still advanced by 0.9 percent to a record closing high, while fellow AI player Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) surged by 3.5 percent.

The strength among AI stocks came after OpenAI reportedly completed a deal placing a $500 billion valuation on the company.

With the sale of about $6.6 billion worth of stock by current and former employees, the ChatGPT owner has surpassed Elon Musk's SpaceX as world's most valuable privately-owned company.

"Reports suggest there was appetite for nearly twice as many as the actual number of shares on offer," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Meanwhile, traders continued to shrug off concerns about the economic impact of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which entered its second day with no signs of an imminent resolution.

The Senate adjourned without holding votes Thursday in recognition of the Yom Kippur holiday and will reconvene on Friday to vote again on Republican and Democratic funding bills that have previously failed.

President Donald Trump sought to frame the shutdown in a positive light in a post on Truth Social, claiming it gives him an "unprecedented opportunity" to slash federal agencies favored by Democrats.

Due to the shutdown, the releases of reports on weekly jobless claims and factory orders that were scheduled for Thursday morning have been indefinitely postponed.

Semiconductor stocks turned in a strong performance on the day amid the AI optimism, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 1.9 percent to a record closing high.

Notable strength also emerged among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index bounced off its lowest closing level in almost two months.

On the other hand, energy stocks moved lower along with the price of crude oil, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.5 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 1.2 percent.

Pharmaceutical stocks also saw some weakness following a two-day surge, resulting in a 1.0 percent loss by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index.

Commodity, Currency Markets

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.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mixed in cautious trading on Friday as concerns about the U.S. government shutdown and potential federal job cuts offset excitement around AI as well as expectations of further interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

As the shutdown enters its third day, Republicans are seeking to use the threat of permanent cuts to encourage Democrats to vote to reopen the government.

President Donald Trump said he would be meeting with White House Budget Director Russell Vought "to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM" are to be cut, and "whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent."

Seoul markets were closed for National Foundation Day, while markets in mainland China remain closed until the middle of next week.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.5 percent to 27,140.92 after rallying more than four percent over the three previous trading sessions.

U.S.-China relations were in focus after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted a "pretty big breakthrough" in the next round of trade talks with China.

Japanese markets soared as tech momentum showed no sign of fading and investors awaited a key ruling party vote that will decide the country's next Prime Minister.

The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.9 percent to close at a record high of 45,769.50, while the broader Topix Index settled 1.4 percent higher at 3,129.17.

Hitachi shares surged 10.3 percent after the conglomerate announced a strategic partnership with OpenAI to build AI infrastructure and expand data centers globally. Other tech firms followed suit, with Renesas Electronics climbing 7.3 percent and SoftBank Group rising 3.6 percent.

Australian markets advanced, led by gains by financials, miners and healthcare stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 percent to 8,987.40, capping off its strongest week since August on the back of higher commodity prices. The broader All Ordinaries Index closed up 0.5 percent at 9,288.10.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index gained 0.5 percent to close at 13,514.09 amid signs of life in the property sector.

Europe

European stocks have edged higher on Friday and are on track for their strongest week since May, driven by investor optimism over artificial intelligence and Fed rate cut hopes.

Investors also cheered the results of a survey that showed growth in the euro zone services sector accelerated slightly in September to an eight-month high.

Elsewhere, U.K. service sector growth eased to a five-month low as weak consumer confidence, delays to business spending decisions and falling exports all weighed on demand.

The pan European Stoxx 600 Index is up by 0.3 percent after gaining half a percent on Thursday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is also up by 0.5 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.2 percent. In corporate news, Clariant, a Switzerland-based specialty chemical company, has moved to the downside after rejecting claims in lawsuits filed by BP and ExxonMobil.

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon has moved sharply lower after it warned of higher costs in the year ahead.

Meanwhile, Roche has risen after saying that Claudia Suessmuth Dyckerhoff would not stand for re-election as a member of the pharma company's board of directors.

U.S. Economic News

The Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on service sector activity in the month of September at 10 am ET. 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.

At 1:30 pm ET, Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan is due to participate in a moderated conversation before the 10th Annual Conference of International Economics hosted by the Dallas Fed, the University of Houston and the Banco de México.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson is scheduled to speak on the "U.S. Economic Outlook and the Fed's Monetary Policy Framework" before the Drexel Economic Forum at 1:40 pm ET.