Futures Pointing To Initial Strength On Wall Street

Following the lackluster performance seen in the previous session, stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.3 percent.

Stocks may continue to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has helped propel the Dow and the Nasdaq to their best levels in three months.

Optimism about the outlook for interest rates has contributed to the recent advance, as the latest data has shown signs of easing inflation.

The data has reinforced investors’ expectations that the Federal Reserve will refrain from raising interest rates over the next several months before cutting rates in mid-2024.

The Fed’s next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for December 12-13, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 99.7 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged.

However, some economists have suggested Fed officials will maintain a somewhat hawkish tone to avoid the appearance of declaring victory over inflation too soon.

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected increase in new residential construction in the month of October.

The report said housing starts jumped by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.372 million in October after surging by 3.1 percent to a downwardly revised rate of 1.346 million in September.

Economists had expected housing starts to dip to a rate of 1.350 million from the 1.358 million originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department said building permits also shot up by 1.1 percent to an annual rate of 1.487 million in October after plunging by 4.5 percent to a revised rate of 1.471 million in September.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to decrease to a rate of 1.450 million from the 1.475 million originally reported for the previous month.

After moving sharply higher in recent sessions, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Thursday. The major averages spent most of the session modestly below the unchanged line but ended the day narrowly mixed.

The Dow climbed well off its worst levels of the day in late-day trading but still closed down 45.74 points or 0.1 percent at 34,945.47. The blue chip index edged down of the three-month closing high set on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq crept up 9.84 points or 0.1 percent to 14,113.67, its best closing level in well over three months, and the S&P 500 inched up 5.36 points or 0.1 percent to a more than two-month closing high of 4,508.24.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.5 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plunged by 2.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.9 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $1.17 to $74.07 a barrel after plummeting $3.76 to $72.90 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after jumping $23 to $1,987.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $4.60 to $1,991.90 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 149.57 yen versus the 150.73 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0864 compared to yesterday’s $1.0852.

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