– The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Friday, with sentiment getting a lift from the Commerce Department’s personal income and spending report, which showed that income as well spending rose in line with expectations. The focus now shifts to the housing and consumer sentiment reports to be released shortly after the markets open. Global cues are positive, with the Asian markets closing mostly higher, while European stocks are seeing a solid advance. Reflecting a pick up in risk appetite and the dollar’s weakness, commodity prices are firmer.
After showing weakness for much of morning trading on Thursday, weighed down by a sour jobless claims report, the major averages recovered in the afternoon. Thereafter, the indexes remained mostly afloat before closing modestly to moderately higher.
The Dow Industrials ended up 8.10 points or 0.07 percent at 12,403, while the Nasdaq Composite ended 21.54 points or 0.78 percent higher at 2,783 and the S&P 500 Index added 5.22 points or 0.40 percent before closing at 1,326.
Nineteen of the thirty Dow components closed higher, with Caterpillar (CAT), General Electric (GE), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Microsoft (MSFT) advancing strongly. Meanwhile, Home Depot (HD), Merck (MRK) and Intel (INTC) slid sharply.
Among the sector indexes, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index added 1.69 percent and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose about a percent. Additionally, the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index advanced 1.59 percent and the NYSE Arca Software Index gained 1.11 percent.
Currency, Commodity Markets
Crude oil futures are trading up $0.88 at $101.11 a barrel after declining $1.09 to $100.23 a barrel on Thursday. An ounce of gold is currently fetching $1,530.30, a rise of $6.60 from the previous session’s close of $1,523.70 an ounce. The precious metal had slipped $4.10 on Thursday.
Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 81.1605 yen compared to the 81.2873 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.4274 compared to yesterday’s $1.4145.
Asia
The major Asian markets closed Friday’s session on a mixed note, with the Japanese and Chinese markets retreating, while most other major markets closed higher. The resilience of U.S. stocks in the face of some disappointing economic data lent support to stocks in the region, although Japan, which derives the bulk of its export earnings from the U.S., retreated amid a stronger yen and data showing weaker than expected U.S. GDP growth for the first quarter.
Similar Posts:
- Markets May Relish Solid Job Gains
- Traders May Bid Up Stocks As Data Show Recovery Not At Risk
- Markets May Sustain Momentum On Data, Corporate News
- Disappointing Jobs Report May Trigger Selling
- Positive Data May Allay Growth Fears
