Wall Street On Track For Rebound As Growth Fears Wane

(RTTNews) - Trading in the U.S. index futures suggests that Wall Street stocks may open Friday's session higher after the insipid showing by the markets in recent session. With a regional manufacturing and jobless claims data coming in positively and the U.S. consumer spending rising roughly in line with expectations, growth fears may recede. Among other financial assets, oil prices are holding their recent highs and other commodities are mostly weaker. Monthly auto sales, the results of two separate U.S. manufacturing surveys and a couple of Fed speeches scheduled for the day along with the earnings news flow could serve as clinching catalysts for the session.

At 6:15 am ET, the Dow futures are rising 62 points, the S&P 500 futures are moving up 5.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are gaining 7.50 points.

U.S. stocks declined on Thursday, dragged down by weak earnings, even as economic data remained mostly positive and oil prices trended upwards.

On the economic front, automakers are scheduled to release its monthly sales results for April. Economists expect total vehicle sales to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.9 million units compared to a 17.2 million rate in March. Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank Loretta Mester is due to speak on consumer credit issues in Philadelphia at 8:30 am ET.

Markit is scheduled to release its final U.S. manufacturing index for April at 9:45 am ET. Economists expect the index to be upwardly revised to 54.5 from the flash estimate of 54.2, but down 55.7 in March.

The Institute for Supply Management is set to release the results of its national manufacturing survey at 10 am ET. The consensus estimate calls for the index to increase to 52 in April from 51.5 in March.

The University of Michigan is scheduled to release the final results of its U.S. consumer sentiment survey for March at 10 am ET. Economists expect the index to be upwardly revised to 96 from the mid-month reading of 95.9, up from 95.9 in March.

The Commerce Department is due to release its construction spending report for March at 10 am ET. Economists expect construction spending to have increased 0.4 percent month-over-month in March. San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak on monetary policy at Chapman University in Orange, California at 3:25 pm ET.

In corporate news, Visa (V) reported better than expected second quarter results and reaffirmed its 2015 revenue growth guidance for 2015. However, the company lowered its earnings per share growth guidance.

JDSU (JDSU) reported forecast-beating results for its third quarter but issued weak fourth quarter guidance. LinkedIn's (KNKD) first quarter results were above expectations and updated its 2015 guidance, which is below the consensus estimate. DreamWorks (DWA) reported better than expected results for its first quarter.

Western Union's (WU) first quarter results exceeded estimates and it reaffirmed its 2015 guidance. AIG (AIG) reported better than expected first quarter earnings. The company also announced that it would buy back $3.5 billion worth of shares.

The Asian markets that were open for trading ended higher, although the gains were less than convincing. Most markets in the region remained closed on account of the May Day holiday. Traders pondered over some positive economic data released from the U.S. overnight and fairly encouraging Chinese manufacturing activity data even as the negative lead from Wall Street applied some downward pressure on the markets.

Japan's Nikkei 225 average ended up 11.62 points or 0.06 percent at 19,532. Australia's All Ordinaries ending up 25.10 points or 0.43 percent at 5,799.

On the economic front, official data released by the National Bureau of Statistics reported that China's manufacturing PMI remained unchanged at 50.1 in April, ahead of the consensus estimate of 50.

A report released by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed that consumer prices rose 2.3 percent year-over-year in March, exceeding the 2.2 percent increase expected by economists. Core inflation came in at 2.2 percent, also above the 2.2 percent rate expected by economists. Meanwhile, the non-manufacturing PMI slipped to 53.4 from 53.7.

A separate report showed that the unemployment rate for Japan came in at 3.4 percent year-over-year in March, smaller than the 3.5 percent rate expected by economists. Another report showed that average household spending fell 10.6 percent year-over-year, not as steep as the 11.8 percent drop expected by economists. The average monthly income per household eased 0.3 percent and the average consumption expenditure per household declined 11 percent.

The U.K. market opened unchanged but rose sharply in early trading. After pulling back immediately after, the FTSE 100 Index is now slowly recouping some of its losses. Most markets in the region are closed for the Labor Day Holiday.

In corporate news, Lloyds Banking Group reported better than expected first quarter earnings, although on a reported basis, it posted a loss on the sale of its TSB to Banco de Sabadell. Aer Lingus reported a loss for its first quarter. Rentokil reported higher revenues for its first quarter and said it is on track to meet its full year revenue guidance.

On the economic front, the results of the Markit/CIPS manufacturing survey for the U.K. showed that manufacturing activity in the U.K. slowed in April. The manufacturing PMI slipped 2.1 points to 51.9.