Futures Point To Moderately Higher Open For Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The U.S. manufacturing sector activity report for December might be the major announcement on Friday.

Asian shares closed mixed, while European shares are trading mostly lower.

Gold dipped, while oil was little changed in the Asian trading session.

Initial signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately up.

As of 7.40 am ET, the Dow futures were gaining 96.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 11.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 55.50 points.

The U.S. major averages ended Thursday modestly lower. The Dow fell 151.95 points or 0.4 percent to 42,392.27, the Nasdaq dipped 30.00 points or 0.2 percent to 19,280.79 and the S&P 500 slipped 13.08 points or 0.2 percent to 5,868.55.

On the economic front, the ISM Manufacturing Index for December will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 48.5, while it was 48.4 in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week is scheduled at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 93 bcf.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is expected at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 684 and the U.S. rig count was 589.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be revealed at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was up $6.886 trillion.

Richmond Fed Bank President Thomas Barkin speaks before the Maryland Bankers Association First Friday Economic Outlook Forum.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite index fell 1.57 percent to 3,211.43. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index settled 0.70 percent higher at 19,760.27.

Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

Australian markets closed higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.60 percent to 8,250.50 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.55 percent higher at 8,511.90.

European shares are trading mostly down. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is falling 62.06 points or 0.84 percent. The German DAX is losing 75.90 points or 0.38 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is declining 6.27 points or 0.08 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is gaining 2.08 points or 0.02 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.57 percent.