Uncertainty continue to linger over U.S.-Iran peace negotiations and the stakeholders are not hopeful of settling the Middle East conflict immediately.
Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly down on Friday. In the Asian trade session, the dollar held steady. Gold prices traded lower. Spot gold was subdued at $4,463 an ounce.
Oil prices stabilized. Brent crude futures were down half a percent at $94.46 a barrel.
As of 8.00 am ET, the Dow futures were up 39.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were sliding 37.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were falling 342.00 points.
The U.S. major averages finished broadly up on Thursday. The Dow ended higher 874.86 points or 1.7 percent to 51,561.93. The S&P 500 also climbed 30.63 points or 0.4 percent to 7,584.31 but the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 23.02 points or 0.1 percent at 26,830.98.
On the economic front, the Employment Situation for May will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 85,000, while it was up 115,000 in the prior month. The Unemployment Rate is expected to increase 4.3 percent, while it was up 4.3 percent.
The monthly manufacturing payrolls is expected to be 1000, while it was down 2000 in the prior month. The average hourly earnings is expected to be up 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.2 percent in the prior month. The consensus for Average Workweek is 34.3 hours, while it was up 34.3 hours in April.
The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be issued at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North America rig count was 724 and the U.S. rig count was up 562.
The Consumer Credit for April will be published at 3.00 pm ET. The consensus is $17.5 billion, while it was up $24.8 billion in March.
Asian stocks fell broadly on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.74 percent to 4,027.74. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 1.15 percent at 24,961.95.
Japanese markets fell sharply. The Nikkei average tumbled 1.31 percent to 66,588.12. The broader Topix index settled marginally lower at 3,949.09.
Australian markets fell notably. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.70 percent to 8,625.10. The broader All Ordinaries index dipped 0.68 percent to 8,855.90.
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Business News
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.