Wall Street Might Open Broadly Down

(RTTNews) - On a lean day of economic announcements, the Monthly Jobs Report might be the major highlight on Friday.

Analysts will be observing geopolitical developments today.

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

As of 7.10 am ET, the Dow futures were down 59.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 2.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 23.00 points.

The U.S. major averages posted steep losses on Thursday. The Dow slumped 543.54 points or 1.7 percent to 32,254.86, the Nasdaq plummeted 237.65 points or 2.1 percent to 11,338.35 and the S&P 500 plunged 73.69 points or 1.9 percent at 3,918.32.

On the economic front, the Labor Department's Employment Situation for February will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 223,000, while it was up 517,000 in the prior month. The Treasury Department's Statement for February will be issued at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $268.9 billion, while the deficit was $38.8 billion in January. The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is scheduled at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America Rig Count was 995, and the U.S. Rig Count was 749.

Asian stocks tumbled on Friday. Chinese shares fell sharply, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite ending down 1.40 percent at 3,230.08. Hong Kong's tech-heavy Hang Seng index slumped 3.04 percent to close at 19,319.92.

The Japanese yen weakened to the most in three months. The Nikkei average gave up 1.67 percent to close at 28,143.97. The broader Topix index ended 1.91 percent lower at 2,031.58.

Australian markets finished lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 2.28 percent to 7,144.70, marking an eight-week low. The broader All Ordinaries index settled 2.21 percent lower at 7,348.20.

European shares are trading lower. CAC 40 of France is down 86.71 points or 1.19 percent. DAX of Germany is declining 196.93 points or 1.26 percent. FTSE 100 of England is declining 133.41 points or 1.69 percent. The Swiss Market Index is down 128.17 points or 1.17 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 1.25 percent.