Stock futures point to a positive open
U.S. stock futures were marginally higher early Friday after the major averages staged a late rebound during the previous session, as traders continued to digest minutes from the Federal Reserve’s March 15-16 meeting that signaled fast pace of interest rate hikes and balance sheet reduction.
Wall Street is now bracing for the start of the first-quarter earnings season with big banks like JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) set to report next week.
As of 5:50 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow rose 95 points, or 0.28% to 34,585. S&P 500 futures added 9.75 points, or 0.22% to 4,506 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 39.75 points, or 0.27% to 14,575.75.
Crude futures jump as the EU and Japan ban imports of Russian coal
In energy markets, crude futures were advancing after the European Union joined the United Kingdom in announcing a ban on Russian coal imports.
The ban, which is among a raft of new economic sanctions that EU members have approved, comes in the wake of growing evidence that Russian troops recently killed civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
Japanese and South Korea, the biggest consumers of Russian coal after China, have also announced similar measures.
As of 5:50 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were marked 94 cents, or 0.98% to $96.97 a barrel. Global Brent crude futures were up 80 cents, or 0.8% to $101.38 a barrel.
Tesla to make “dedicated” self-driving taxi “futuristic” look, Musk says
Meanwhile, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has said that the company will make a “dedicated” self-driving taxi and promised it will look “quite futuristic.”
Musk made the announcement on Thursday evening during the invite-only Cyber Rodeo event at Tesla’s new $1.1 billion gigafactory in Austin, Texas.
“Massive scale. Full self-driving. There’s going to be a dedicated robotaxi,” the billionaire entrepreneur told the attendees without giving a timeframe.
Musk also teased other products that Tesla is still developing, including the Cybertruck, which will be produced at the gigafactory next year.
He also revealed that the EV maker plans to make 500,000 Model Y unit in a single year at the factory.