BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Producer Price Inflation might be the
highlight on Friday. Earnings reports from major corporates also will get
attention.

Initial trends from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open
mostly up.

In the Asian trading shares, gold edged lower, while oil extended gains.

As of 7.55 am ET, the Dow futures were up 17.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were
adding 2.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were declining 2.25 points.

The U.S. major averages finished mostly down. The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a
particularly steep loss on the day, plunging 364.04 points or 2.0 percent to
18,283.41, while the S&P 500 slumped 49.37 points or 0.9 percent to 5,584.54.

The narrower Dow, on the other hand, spent most of the day lingering near the
unchanged line before closing up 32.39 points or 0.1 percent at 39,753.8

On the economic front, the PPI-Final Demand for June will be issued at 8.30 am
ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.1 percent, while it was down 0.2
percent in the prior month.

The Consumer Sentiment for July will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus
is 68.5, while it was up 68.2 in the prior month.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite index ended a
choppy session marginally higher.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 2.59 percent to 18,293.38.

Japanese markets tumbled. The Nikkei average slumped 2.45 percent to 41,190.68
while the broader Topix index settled 1.18 percent lower at 2,894.56.

Australian markets rose notably. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 hit a record high of
7,969.10 before closing at 7,959.30, up 0.88 percent from its previous close.
The broader All Ordinaries index climbed 0.89 percent to 8,206.10.



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