US Stock Futures Suggest Yet Another Positive Start As Janet Yellen Effect Lingers; Factory Data On Watch

Stock futures suggest yet another positive start to American markets following new record highs reached on Thursday after Janet Yellen spoke up in support of the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program and suggested the stimulus program could last longer than expected.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or DJIA, were up 0.05 percent and those on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were up 0.1 percent, while futures on the Nasdaq Composite Index were up 0.22 percent.

"It's important not to remove support, especially when the recovery is fragile," Janet Yellen said Thursday during a question and answer session on Capitol Hill, CNN Money reported. "I believe it could be costly to withdraw accommodation or to fail to provide adequate accommodation."

Her comments ensured the DJIA and S&P 500 climbed 0.35 percent and 0.48 percent respectively to hit new record highs.

However, a note from Capital Economics observed that, Yellen’s comments “were balanced by an acknowledgement that there are costs and risks associated with QE and that stimulus could not continue indefinitely.”

“The US central bank is unlikely to raise its key interest rate for at least another year. And as long as it is buying at least some assets in the meantime, it will be providing additional unconventional stimulus. But we still expect a first rate hike sometime in early 2015,” the note added.

On Friday, investors will also keep an eye on Industrial Production data for October, which is scheduled to be released at 9:15 a.m. EST. A survey of manufacturers in the state of New York, which provides an insight into views about the sector's future in the upcoming six months, could also hold investors’ interest when the Empire State manufacturing index for November is released at 8:30 a.m. EST.

In Europe, stocks were mostly flat with the exception of the FTSE, which was up 0.3 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.07 percent while France's CAC-40 was trading down 0.02 percent and Germany's DAX-30 was down 0.01 percent

In Asia, markets were steeply up overall with Japan’s Nikkei continuing its positive run from Thursday to climb 1.95 percent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended up 0.87 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 1.69 percent, the Shanghai Composite index was up 1.68 percent and South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.94 percent. India’s BSE Sensex was closed for a local holiday.