Wall Street Aims To Open Positive

(RTTNews) - Trading on Friday is likely to be driven by reaction to the Fed's preferred readings on consumer price inflation and the impact on the outlook for interest rates.

In the Asian trading session, gold held steady below $3,750 per ounce while oil prices edged up slightly.

Asian shares finished lower, while European shares are trading positive.

As of 8.15 am ET, the Dow futures were gaining 133.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were progressing 8.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 11.75 points.

The U.S. major averages ended Thursday firmly negative. The Nasdaq slid 113.16 points or 0.5 percent to 22,384.70, the S&P 500 declined 33.25 points or 0.5 percent to 6,604.72 and the Dow fell 173.96 points or 0.4 percent to 45,947.32.

On the economic front, the Personal Income and Outlays for August will be held at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.4 percent in the prior month.

The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment for September will be released at 10.00 a ET. The consensus is 55.4, while it was up 55.4 in August. Year-ahead Inflation expectations is expected to increase 4.8 percent.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be issued at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 731, while it was up U.S. rig count was 542.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will participate in "Approach to Monetary Policy Decision-Making" conversation hosted by the Forecasters' Club of New York at 1.00 pm ET.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin will speak before the Peterson Institute for International Economics at 9.00 am ET.

Asian stocks declined on Friday. Chinese markets ended notably lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.65 percent at 3,828.11 after the S&P 500 dropped for a third straight session. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.35 percent to 26,128.20.

Japanese markets ended sharply lower. The Nikkei average fell 0.87 percent to 45,354.99 but the broader Topix index finished marginally higher at 3,187.02.

Australian markets ended slightly higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 edged up by 0.17 percent to 8,787.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 0.17 percent at 9,079.20.

European shares are trading higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is gaining 59.68 points or 0.77 percent. The German DAX is adding 143.61 points or 0.61 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is climbing 46.49 points or 0.50 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is progressing 57.75 points or 0.49 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.70 percent.