US pre-open: Futures trade higher as Wall Street looks to extend gains

16th Jan 2026 10:04

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Friday after both chip and banking stocks gave major indices a boost in the previous session.

As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.09%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.30% and 0.60% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 292.81 points higher on Thursday, as strong performances from Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and Morgan Stanley helped to repair sentiment in the banking sector after some underwhelming results earlier in the week.

Market participants were looking to wrap up a busy week after contending with a flurry of headlines out of Washington, ranging from rising geopolitical tensions in Iran and Greenland to renewed concerns over potential threats to the Federal Reserve's independence.

Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "Stock index futures were comfortably firmer across the board on Friday morning. Despite a hiccup earlier in the week, investor sentiment appears positive. There has been a broadening out of ownership with many investors snapping up overlooked stocks which appear to offer good value when compared to the tech giants. At the same time, a lot of froth was blown off AI and other tech stocks last quarter.

"While there are concerns over the Trump administration's meddling and open hostility to the Federal Reserve's chair, Jerome Powell, the overall takeaway is that lower rates are coming regardless. Meanwhile, equities don't appear overbought, and volatility is low. Geopolitical risk has once again taken a backseat. What could possibly go wrong?"

On the macro front, December industrial production and capacity utilisation figures will be out at 1415 GMT, while the NAHB's January housing market index will follow at 1500 GMT.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com