Wall Street To Open Moderately Up

The developments on coronavirus front are impacting the markets. The death toll in U.S. is approaching 50,000, with the global death toll of more than 190,000.

Asian shares finished mostly lower, while European shares are trading lower.
Initial cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately positive.

As of 8.20 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 147.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were gaining 18.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 43.25 points.

The U.S. major averages closed on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Dow crept up 39.44 points or 0.2 percent to 23,515.26, the Nasdaq edged down 0.63 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 8,494.75 and the S&P 500 slipped 1.51 points or 0.1 percent to 2,797.80.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department’s Durable Goods Orders for March will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline for 11.7 percent, while it was up 1.2 percent in the prior month.

The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment report for April will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for 68.0, while it was up 71.0 in the previous month.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count for the week will be released at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North American Rig Count was 559 and U.S. Rig Count was 529.

Asian stocks ended broadly lower on Friday. Chinese shares fell amid lingering coronavirus worries. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index dropped 29.97 points, or 1.06 percent, to 2,808.53. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid 0.61 percent to 23,831.33.

Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei average fell 167.44 points, or 0.86 percent, to 19,262.00 and ended with a weekly loss of 3.2 percent. The broader Topix index dropped 0.33 percent to 1,421.29.

Australian markets rose notably. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gained 25.50 points, or 0.49 percent, to 5,242.60, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 27.90 points, or 0.53 percent, at 5,300.70.

European shares are trading lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is down 26.05 points or 0.58 percent. The German DAX is losing 77.07 points or 0.73 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is sliding 46.36 points or 0.80 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is up 17.50 points or 0.18 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.63 percent.

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