Futures Pointing To Continued Strength On Wall Street

Following the strong upward move seen over the two previous sessions, stocks may see further upside in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.6 percent.

The markets may continue to benefit from the upward momentum seen over the past two days, which has helped the major averages climb well off their recent lows.

Traders may continue to look to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels amid optimism that the markets have found a bottom.

Buying interest may also be generated in reaction to a report from the Commerce Department showing a slowdown in the pace of core consumer price growth in the month of April.

A reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve showed the annual rate of core consumer price growth slowed to 4.9 percent in April from 5.2 percent in March.

The data may inspire confidence that the Fed will slow the pace of monetary policy tightening in the second half of the year.

The inflation reading was included in a report showing personal income in the U.S. increased by slightly less than expected in the month of April.

The report showed personal income rose by 0.4 percent in April after climbing by 0.5 percent in March. Economists had been expecting another 0.5 percent increase.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said personal spending advanced by 0.9 percent in April after surging by an upwardly revised 1.4 percent in March.

Personal spending was expected to increase by 0.7 percent compared to the 1.1 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.

Shortly after the start of trading, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its revised reading on consumer sentiment in the month of May.

The consumer sentiment index is expected to be unrevised from the preliminary reading of 59.1, which was down from 65.2 in April.

Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday, extending the strong upward move seen over the course of Wednesday’s session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a particularly strong gain, continuing to recover after ending Tuesday’s trading at its lowest closing level since November 2020.

The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the close but continued to post strong gains. The Dow jumped 516.91 points or 1.6 percent to 32,637.19, the Nasdaq soared 305.91 points or 2.7 percent to 11,740.65 and the S&P 500 surged 79.11 points or 2 percent to 4,057.84.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index spiked by 2.9 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.9 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.83 to $113.26 a barrel after surging $3.76 to $111.25 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after inching up $1.30 to $1,847.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $2.90 to $1,850.50 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 126.98 yen versus the 127.12 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0717 compared to yesterday’s $1.0725.

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