Wall Street Might Open Broadly Lower

(RTTNews) - Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly down on Friday.

Asian shares finished positive, while European shares are trading higher.

In the Asian trading session, the U.S. dollar held steady, while gold trending up. Oil prices rose on the day.

As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 89.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were losing 11.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were down 147.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished mostly up on Thursday. The Nasdaq closed down 60 points or 0.3 percent at 23,594. The S&P 500 rose 14 points or 0.2 percent to 6,901 and the Dow jumped 646 points or 1.3 percent to close at 48,704.01.

On the economic front, 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 740 and the U.S. rig count was 549.

Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson will speak on the economic outlook before the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce at 8.00 am ET.

Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack will speak before the University of Cincinnati Real Estate Center Roundtable Series Program at 8.30 am ET

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee will participate in moderated conversation before hybrid 39th Annual Economic Outlook Symposium at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago at 10.35 am ET.

Asian stocks rallied on Friday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.75 percent to 25,976.79 on expectations that Chinese authorities may roll out further initiatives to boost growth.

Japanese markets rallied after reports emerged that SoftBank Group and Nvidia are in talks to lead an investment of over $1 billion at a $14 billion valuation in U.S. data center company Skild AI.

Investors also digested data that showed Japan's industrial output grew slightly more than initially estimated in October.

The Nikkei average jumped 1.37 percent to 50,836.55 ahead of the Bank of Japan's interest-rate decision due next week.

The broader Topix index surged 1.98 percent to 3,423.83. Shares of technology investor SoftBank climbed 3.9 percent while semiconductor industry supplier Advantest fell 1.2 percent and Tokyo Electron tumbled 3.4 percent after Oracle's disappointing results.

Seoul stocks posted strong gains to snap a three-day losing streak following robust earnings from Broadcom. The Kospi average surged 1.38 percent to 4,167.16. SK Hynix rose 1.1 percent despite the Korea Exchange's (KRX) issuance of a warning advisory on the chipmaker.

Australian markets climbed to log a third weekly gain following the Federal Reserve's less-hawkish-than-anticipated outlook.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.23 percent to 8,697.30, with financials and miners leading the surge. The broader All Ordinaries index surged 1.19 percent to 8,983.30.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index finished marginally higher at 13,406.91 after a choppy session. Earlier in the day, a survey showed a slight expansion in the country's manufacturing sector in November.

U.S. stocks ended a choppy session mostly higher overnight, adding to Wednesday's rally after a divided Fed lowered rates for the third time this year and signaled a more gradual path of easing in the months ahead.

Economic reports proved to be a mixed bag, with weekly jobless claims increasing by the most in nearly 4-1/2 years last week while the trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in September to the smallest since mid-2020.

The Dow jumped 1.3 percent and the S&P 500 inched up 0.2 percent to notch new records, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3 percent as Oracle's weaker than expected revenue and underwhelming guidance revived AI overspending worries.

European shares are trading up. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is adding 41.79 points or 0.52 percent. The German DAX is progressing 28.63 points or 0.12 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is gaining 5.87 points or 0.06 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is climbing 15.96 points or 0.12 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 19.64 points or 0.34 percent.