WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After coming under pressure over the course of the
previous session, stocks may move back to the upside in early trading on Friday.
The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets,
with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.4 percent.

Traders may look to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the
downturn seen on Thursday, which saw the Dow post its worst daily drop since
March 2023.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street in the previous session came as a
positive reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA) was overshadowed by
lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as some traders look
to get a head start on the long Memorial Day weekend.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing an
unexpected increase in durable goods orders in the month of April, although the
growth came following a significantly downwardly revised jump in March.

The report said durable goods orders climbed by 0.7 percent in April following a
downwardly revised 0.8 percent advance in March.

Economist had expected durable goods orders to decrease by 0.8 percent compared
to the 2.6 percent surge originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.4
percent in April after coming in unchanged in March. Ex-transportation orders
were expected to inch up by 0.1 percent.

Shortly after the start of trading, The University of Michigan is due to release
its final reading on consumer sentiment in the month of May.

The consumer sentiment index for May is expected to be unrevised from the
preliminary reading of 67.4, which was down from 77.2 in April.

Stocks moved mostly higher at the start of trading on Thursday but failed to
sustain the initial upward move and came under pressure over the course of the
session. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session and
into negative territory.

After reaching record intraday highs, the Nasdaq fell 65.51 points or 0.4
percent to 16,736.03 and the S&P 500 slid 39.17 points or 0.7 percent to
5,267.84. The narrower Dow showed a more significant move to the downside,
tumbling 605.78 points or 1.5 percent to 39,065.26.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved notably
lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dove by 1.2 percent,
while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 0.9 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the
French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s
FTSE 100 Index are both down by 0.4 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slipping $0.24 to $76.63 a barrel
after falling $0.70 to $76.87 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after plummeting
$55.70 to $2,337.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching
up $3.50 to $2,340.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.05 yen versus the
156.93 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the
euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0848 compared to yesterday's $1.0815.



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