Stock Futures Suggest Mixed Open; Data On Manufacturing Sector To Be Watched

Data on a couple of indexes that are scheduled to be released on Friday will be closely watched for a reading on the health of the manufacturing sector in the world’s largest economy.

The ISM manufacturing index for October, which surveys purchasing managers about production trends and the status of current and new orders, inventories, and pricing, among other information, is scheduled to be released at 10 a.m. EDT. Markit’s purchasing managers’ index, or PMI, will be released earlier in the day -- at 8:58 a.m. EDT.

And, following a solid performance in October -- during which the S&P 500 gained nearly 5 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 3 percent, stocks look set to open mixed on the first day of November. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average up down 0.34 percent and those on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were up 0.13 percent, while futures on the Nasdaq 100 Index were up 0.22 percent.

On the earnings front, Friday is a relatively light day, with Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) being one of the corporate majors expected to announce quarterly earnings before market hours.

In Europe, stocks were down with the Stoxx Europe 600 index trading down 0.21 percent while London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.12 percent. Germany's DAX-30 was down 0.18 percent and France's CAC-40 was trading down 0.39 percent.

In Asia, markets were mixed with Japan’s Nikkei down 0.88 percent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.27 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.46 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.19 percent while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.37 percent.