Futures Suggests Broadly Higher Open For Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Friday, the early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly up. Oil prices ticked higher in the Asian trading session. Brent crude futures rose 0.9 percent to $87.85 a barrel.

Gold held steady. Spot gold was little changed at $4,353.73 an ounce. U.S. gold futures were down 0.3 percent at $4,408.72.

As of 7.50 am ET, the Dow futures were down 76.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 6.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 71.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished positive on Thursday. The Nasdaq led the way higher, advancing 214.54 points or 0.8 percent to a two-month closing high of 26,803.03. The S&P 500 also climbed 50.49 points or 0.7 percent to 7,798.99, while the narrower Dow posted a more modest gain, inching up 69.72 points or 0.1 percent to 53,839.99.

On the economic front, the Retail Sales for July will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 0.1 percent, while it was up 0.2 percent in the prior month.

The Business Inventories for June will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.2 percent, while it was up 0.3 percent in the prior month.

The Consumer Sentiment for August will be revealed at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 54.2, while it was up 55.2 in the prior month.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is scheduled at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 804 and the U.S. rig count was 588.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite index closed marginally higher at 3,927.18. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.10 percent to 25,116.85.

Japanese markets rose notably. The Nikkei average climbed 0.59 percent to 68,713.80 while the broader Topix index rose 0.51 percent to 4,197.20.

Australian markets ended lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.80 percent to 9,115.20 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.73 percent lower at 9,313.20.