Former NYSE Chairman and CEO Dick Grasso argues that it’s time for the U.S. to “drop the politics and get back to economic drive.”
U.S. equity futures are higher entering the final trading day of the week.
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The major futures indexes are suggesting a rise of 0.2% for stocks.
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Data for investors to consider on Friday will be new existing home sales for July. Economists are looking for sales to surge 14.7% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.38 million units.
IHS Markit’s flash manufacturing and service purchasing managers reports for August are both expected to show improvement from July.
Among earnings reports coming out will be the latest from farm equipment maker Deere & Co and apparel company Foot Locker.
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Asian shares were higher Friday on hopes for development of a coronavirus vaccine, although worries remained about long-term economic damage from the pandemic.
The rise in regional benchmarks echoed the gains on Wall Street, which were led by big technology companies that are benefiting from people staying home during the outbreak.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2% and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%.
In Europe, London’s FTSE slipped 0.3%, Germany’s DAX was little changed and France’s CAC was off 0.1%.
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said they will take their COVID-19 vaccine candidate with the fewest side effects into final-stage testing. It’s one of a handful of experimental vaccines to reach end-stage tests around the world.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% after rallying back from an earlier 0.6% loss as investors weighed new government data showing an increase in the number of Americans who sought unemployment aid last week.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 27739.73 | +46.85 | +0.17% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3385.51 | +10.66 | +0.32% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 11264.953571 | +118.49 | +1.06% |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 46.85 points, or 0.2%, to 27,739.73.
The strength in tech stocks helped lift the Nasdaq composite up 118.49 points, or 1.1%, to 11,264.95, a record high.
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Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 17 cents to $42.65 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, slipped 16 cents to $44.75 a barrel.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
