Futures Point To Broadly Higher Open For Wall Street Ahead Of Trump-Putin Summit In Alaska

(RTTNews) - Early trends on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly up on Friday. Economic data, including reports on retail sales, industrial production and consumer sentiment might be important today.

Investors are keenly waiting for the outcome of the Alaska summit between the U.S. and Russian Presidents.

As of 8.20 am ET, the Dow futures were gaining 225.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were 3.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 33.75 points.

The U.S. major averages finished broadly down. The S&P 500 crept up 1.96 points or less than a tenth of a percent to a new record closing high of 6,468.54, the Nasdaq edged down 2.47 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,710.67 and the Dow slipped 11.01 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 44,911.26.

On the economic front, the Retail Sales for July will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 0.5 percent, while it was up 0.6 percent in the prior month.

The Empire State Manufacturing Index for August will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 0.5, while it was up 5.5 in the prior month.

The Import and Export Prices for July will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.1 percent, while it was up 0.1 percent in the prior month.

The Industrial Production Index for July is scheduled at 9.15 am ET. The consensus is for 0.0 percent, while it was up 0.3 percent in the prior month.

The Business Inventories for June is expected at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.2 percent. In the prior month it was at 0.0 percent.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be revealed at 1.00 pm ET. The North America rig count was 719, while the U.S. rig count was up 539.

Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.8 percent to 3,696.77. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 1.0 percent to 25,270.07.

Japanese markets closed at a record high. The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.7 percent to 43,378.31, while the broader Topix Index closed up 1.6 percent at 3,107.68.

Australian markets ended high. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.7 percent to 8,938.60, while the broader All Ordinaries Index settled 0.7 percent higher at 9,212.10.