Renewed optimism about U.S.-Iran talks and rising hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the Middle East conflict may lift investor sentiment on Friday.
The dollar was higher in Asian trading session. Brent crude prices jumped nearly 3 percent toward $106 a barrel. Gold prices traded lower, while spot gold dipped toward $4.500 an ounce.
Initial trends from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately up.
As of 7.40 am ET, the Dow futures were up 151.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 12.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 50.75 points.
The U.S. major averages finished in positive territory on Thursday. The Dow advanced 276.31 points or 0.6 percent to 50,285.66, the S&P 500 rose 12.75 points or 0.2 percent to 7,445.72 and the Nasdaq inched up 22.74 points or 0.1 percent to 26,293.10.
On the Economic front, the Consumer Sentiment for May will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 48.2, while it was up 48.2 in the prior month.
The Leading Indicators for April will be revealed at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for a decline 0.3 percent, while it was down 0.6 percent in the prior month.
The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be revealed at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 675, while U.S. rig count was 551.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller will give lecture on the economic outlook before the Centre for Central Banking Guest Lecture event at 10.00 am ET.
Asian stocks ended higher on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite index gained 0.87 percent to close at 4,112.90. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended up 0.86 percent at 25,606.03.
Japanese markets closed on a buoyant note. The Nikkei average jumped 2.68 percent to 63,339.07. The broader Topix index settled 1 percent higher at 3,892.46.
Australian markets advanced. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.41 percent to 8,657, extending gains for a second consecutive session led by materials stocks. The broader All Ordinaries index inched up by 0.41 percent to 8,877.20.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.