BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Consumer Price Index is the major focus on Friday. The positive response from China after the common trade discussions with U.S. is closely viewed by the investors.
Initial trends from U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might be open slightly lower.
Asian shares closed mostly higher, while European shares are trading down.
As of 8.00 am ET, the Dow futures were down 53.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 7.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 28.25 points.
The U.S. major averages ended moderately higher. The Dow advanced 122.80 points or 0.5 percent to 24,001.92, the Nasdaq rose 28.99 points or 0.4 percent to 6,986.07 and the S&P 500 climbed 11.68 points or 0.5 percent to 2,596.64.
On the economic front, the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index for December will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.1 percent, while it remained unchanged in November.
Baker-Hughes Rig Count for the week will be issued at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North American Rig Count were 1151, and U.S. rig count were 1075.
The Treasury Department's Treasury Budget for December will be released at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $12.0 billion while the deficit was $204.9 billion in the previous month.
Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite index rose 18.73 points or 0.74 percent to 2,553.83 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.55 percent to close at 26,667.27.
Japanese shares posted strong gains. The Nikkei average jumped 195.90 points or 0.97 percent to 20,359.70, taking overall gains for the week to 4.1 percent, the biggest weekly gain in more than two months. The broader Topix index closed 0.51 percent higher at 1,529.73.
Australian markets fell modestly. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 20.70 points or 0.36 percent to 5,774.60 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 19.10 points or 0.33 percent at 5,834.80.
European shares are broadly down. France's CAC 40 is losing 24.90 points or 0.52 percent. Germany's DAX is down 46.49 points or 0.42 percent. FTSE 100 of U.K. is declining 14.31 points or 0.21 percent. Swiss Market Index is progressing 38.38 points or 0.44 percent.
Eurozone's leading Blue Chip index, Euro Stoxx 50, is declining 0.26 percent.
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