Friday May 16, 11:32 AM
WALL STREET OUTLOOK higher after gains in Europe; housing data in focus
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Wall Street is on track to open higher, looking to advance for a third day straight, and following on from gains in Europe, although any bad news in Friday's housing report could dent investors' confidence.
According to spread bettors IG index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open around 26 points higher at 13,018.
Separately, S&P 500 futures were 3.9 higher at 1,427.5, while Nasdaq 100 (NASDAQ: news) futures were up 2.5 to 2,536.2.
On Thursday, Wall Street notched its second straight daily advance, with investors assuaged by a pullback in oil prices and some better-than-expected economic data.
However, oil moved higher Friday as weakness in the U.S. dollar and tight global distillate markets pushed prices back above $125 a barrel.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was up $1.02 at $125.14 a barrel.
In London, Brent crude for July delivery was up $1.26 at $123.89.
In economic data Friday, a report on the housing sector will be the highlight, with the number of new homes builders began construction on during April expected to have totalled 940,000, down from 947,000.
Meanwhile, the preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment is expected to drop slightly to 62.5 in May from 62.6 in the previous month.
In corporate news, renewed M&A hopes will mean Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO - news) will be closely watched after activist investor Carl Icahn notified the company that he will lead a revolt to oust chief executive Jerry Yang and the rest of the Internet company's board unless they renew negotiations with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT - news) that fell apart May 3 when the two sides couldn't agree on a price.
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