Futures Pointing To Sharply Higher Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Stocks are likely to jump sharply at the start of trading on Friday, extending the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a substantially higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 169 points.

Early buying interest is likely to be generated by news of the Bank of Japan's unexpected decision to ease monetary policy amid concerns about the impact of falling oil prices.

By a 5-4 vote, the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board decided to raise the monetary base at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen. The bank previously targeted an increase of about 60 to 70 trillion yen.

"So much for the end of QE," said Julian Jessop, Chief Global Economist at Capital Economics. "The Bank of Japan's announcement today that it is stepping up its asset purchases is a timely reminder that not everyone has to follow the Fed."

"We would be wary of speculation that an outflow of Japanese money will lift bond markets elsewhere," he added. "Nonetheless, further QE in Japan should help to support equity prices worldwide and especially in the euro-zone if expectations build that the ECB will follow with full-blown QE of its own."

The markets may also benefit from a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news, with oil giants Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) moving higher in pre-market trading after both companies reported better than expected third quarter earnings.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department recently released a report showing an unexpected drop in U.S. personal spending in the month of September.