Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Friday as traders return to their desks following the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 55 points.
The markets may continue to benefit from recent upward momentum, which propelled the major averages to new record highs earlier this week.
Optimism about a potential coronavirus vaccine has contributed to recent strength on Wall Street, although some questions have been raised about the efficacy of the vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
AstraZeneca Pascal Soriot told Bloomberg the British pharmaceutical giant is likely to run a new global trial of the vaccine candidate.
Nonetheless, overall trading activity is likely to be subdued in the shortened trading session, as many traders remain away from their desks following the holiday.
A lack of major U.S. economic data may also keep traders on the sidelines ahead of the monthly jobs report due next week along with reports on manufacturing and service sector activity.
Following the strong upward move seen on Tuesday, stocks turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. The Nasdaq climbed to a new record closing high, while the Dow and the S&P 500 gave back some ground.
The major averages finished the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Nasdaq rose 57.62 points or 0.5 percent to 12,094.40, the Dow fell 173.77 points or 0.6 percent to 29,872.47 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.76 points or 0.2 percent to 3,629.65.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slipping $0.39 to $45.32 a barrel after climbing $0.80 to $45.71 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after inching up $0.30 to $1,811.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $0.50 to $1,810.70 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 104.16 yen versus the 104.26 yen it fetched on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1933 compared to yesterday's $1.1913.
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