Wall Street Might Open Moderately Up

(RTTNews) - The monthly jobs report on Friday might be delayed. The U.S. shutdown and geopolitical developments are closely monitored by investors. Initial signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately higher.

In the Asian trading session, gold headed for a seventh weekly gain. Oil was on a decline.

As of 8.15 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 70.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were progressing 6.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 19.75 points.

The U.S. major averages all finished Thursday in positive territory. The Nasdaq climbed 88.89 points or 0.4 percent to 22,844.05, the Dow rose 78.62 points or 0.2 percent to 46,519.72 and the S&P 500 inched up 4.15 points or 0.1 percent to 6,715.35.

On the economic front, the Employment Situation for September is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 50,000, while it was up 22,000 in the prior month.

The unemployment rate is expected to increase 4.3 percent, while it was up 4.3 percent in the prior month. The private payrolls is projected to increase to 60,000, while it was up 38,000 in the prior month.

Manufacturing payrolls is expected to be down 5000, while it was down 12000.

Average Hourly earnings is scheduled to increase 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.3 percent in August.

The PMI Composite Final for September will be revealed at 9.45 am ET. The flash reading was 53.6 in the prior month.

The ISM Services Index for September will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 51.6, while it was up 52.0 in the prior month.

Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan will participate in moderated conversation before the 10th Annual Conference of International Economics, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the University of Houston and the Banco de México at 1.30 pm ET.

Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson will speak on 'U.S. Economic Outlook and the Fed's Monetary Policy Framework' before the Drexel Economic Forum at 1.40 am ET.

Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be released at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 739, while the U.S. rig count was 549.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.54 percent to 27,140.92.

Japanese markets soared. The Nikkei average jumped 1.85 percent to close at a record high of 45,769.50 while the broader Topix index settled 1.35 percent higher at 3,129.17.

Australian markets advanced. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.46 percent to 8,987.40. The broader All Ordinaries index ended up 0.52 percent at 9,288.10.