WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the notable weakness seen last Friday, stocks are likely to move back to the upside in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 713 points.
The upward momentum on Wall Street comes as the reported death tolls in some of the world's coronavirus hot spots showed signs of easing over the weekend.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths in New York State fell to 594 on Sunday from 630 on Saturday, reflecting the first daily decrease.
President Donald Trump warned the country could be headed into its 'toughest' week but expressed hope the country was seeing a 'leveling off' of the coronavirus crisis.
Reports of decreases in the number of new infections and deaths in European countries like Italy and Spain may also generate some positive sentiment.
Stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session on Friday, as traders reacted to a Labor Department report showing a much steeper than expected drop in employment in the month of March.
The major averages ended the session firmly in negative territory but off their worst levels of the day. The Dow tumbled 360.91 points or 1.7 percent to 21,052.53, the Nasdaq plunged by 114.23 points or 1.5 percent to 7,373.08 and the S&P 500 slumped 38.25 points or 1.5 percent to 2,488.65.
For the week, the Dow plummeted by 2.7 percent, the Nasdaq tumbled by 1.7 percent and the S&P 500 nosedived by 2.1 percent.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index spiked by 4.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 2.2 percent.
The major European markets have also shown strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has skyrocketed by 4.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 3.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 2.1 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slumping $0.98 to $27.36 a barrel after spiking $3.02 to $28.34 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $1,675.20, up $29.50 from the previous session's close of $1,645.70. On Friday, gold climbed $8.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 109.09 yen compared to the 108.55 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0787 compared to last Friday's $1.0801.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX