FX.co ★ Futures Point To Positive Open For Wall Street

Early trends indicate that Wall Street may open on a positive note despite the current geopolitical tensions. Asian stocks had a largely positive performance, and European stocks are trading higher for the most part.

As of 7:55 am ET, Dow futures had risen by 161.00 points, S&P 500 futures had increased by 19.75 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures had advanced by 74.25 points.

Previously, U.S. major averages closed lower. Dow's session ended down 31.31 points or 0.1% at 39,282.33. The Nasdaq fell by 68.77 points or 0.4% to 16,315.70 and the S&P 500 experienced a dip of 14.61 points or 0.3% to 5,203.58.

Moving on to economic news, the latest Petroleum Status Report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released at 10.30 am ET. The previous week saw a decrease in crude oil inventories by 2.0 million barrels and gasoline inventories by 3.3 million barrels.

The Survey of Business Uncertainty for March will be available at 11.00 am ET. The last report saw a sales growth increase by 3.94% and an employment growth rise by 4.14%.

There will also be an auction of two-year Floating Rate Notes (FRN) and seven-year Treasury Notes at 1.00 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended mixed in the run-up to the holiday week, with Chinese markets falling significantly. The Shanghai Composite Index in China fell by 1.26% to 2,993.14 and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped by 1.36% to 16,392.84.

Conversely, the Japanese markets experienced substantial gains with the Nikkei average rising by 0.90% to 40,762.73 and the broader Topix index climbing by 0.66% to 2,799.28.

Australian markets also ended on a positive note. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 increased by 0.51% to 7,819.60 and the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.46% higher at 8,073.60.

In Europe, stocks are mostly trading higher. France's CAC 40 is gaining by 21.54 points or 0.26% and Germany's DAX is adding 85.37 points or 0.46%. However, England's FTSE 100 is down by 85.37 points or 0.46%. The Swiss Market Index has risen by 31.66 points or 0.70%.

The Euro Stoxx 50, representing the blue-chip supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up by 0.40%.