Wall Street Aims To Be Positive At Open

(RTTNews) - On a lean day of economic announcements, investors might be more focused on cues from geopolitical developments on Friday. Asian shares finished mostly lower, while European shares are trading broadly up.

In the Asian trading session, gold edged up while the U.S. dollar held steady. Oil declined but was set for a second weekly gain.

Early trends on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive.

As of 8.15 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 30.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 7.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 35.00 points.

The U.S. major averages finished higher on Thursday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, jumping 209.40 points or 0.9 percent to 22,470.73. The S&P 500 also climbed 31.61 points or 0.5 percent to 6,631.96, while the Dow rose 124.10 points or 0.3 percent to 46,142.42.

On the economic front, the Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be issued at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 725, while the U.S. rig count was 539.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly will participates in fireside chat on AI implications for workforce development and economic mobility hosted by the Emerging Tech Economic Research Network at 2.30 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite index ended down 0.30 percent at 3,820.09. Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended little changed at 26,545.10.

Japanese markets ended lower. The Nikkei average dropped 0.57 percent to 45,045.81 while the broader Topix index closed down 0.35 percent at 3,147.68.

Australian markets eked out modest gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.32 percent to 8,773.50 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.34 percent higher at 9,061.20.

European shares are trading mostly up. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is progressing 18.10 points or 0.23 percent. The German DAX is losing 21.58 points or 0.09 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is adding 2.26 points or 0.02 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is gaining 94.62 points or 0.79 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is 0.13 percent.