Wall Street To Open In Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - Despite the uncertainties in the Middle East and distress in energy supply, early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open higher on Friday.

Oil prices tumbled on Friday while gold edged up slightly. Brent crude futures fell 3.3 percent to $98.97 a barrel. WTI crude futures were down 4.1 percent at $89.06 a barrel.

Gold edged up slightly on Friday. Brent crude futures fell more than 3 percent toward $99 a barrel. Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent to $4,185.82 an ounce but was on course for its second straight weekly decline. U.S. gold futures were up 0.3 percent at $4,214.47 an ounce.

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

As of 8.00 am ET, the Dow futures were up 239.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 31.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 164.25 points.

The U.S. major averages finished higher on Thursday. The S&P 500 rose 14.91 points or 0.2 percent to 7,666.45, while the Dow inched up 20.51 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 50,926.56 and the Nasdaq crept up 10.53 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 26,871.45.

On the economic front, the Employment Situation for September will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The non-farm payrolls consensus is 85,000, while in the prior month, it was up 162,000.

The Factory Orers for August will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 0.0 percent, while it was up 0.9 percent in the prior month.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be published at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 807, and the U.S. rig count was 599.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday. Chinese markets remained closed for a public holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index settled down 2.60 percent at 23,972.29.

Japanese markets lost ground. The Nikkei average fell 0.94 percent to 68,309.46. The broader Topix index dropped 0.99 percent to 4,091.

Australian markets rose notably. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 surged 0.79 percent to 8,682.10, led by banks and mining stocks. The broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.69 percent higher at 8,854.70.