May 17, 2013-Stocks Poised to Trade Modestly Higher

After yesterday's nervous run, Wall Street seems to be striving to regain the momentum that has helped the averages scale new record highs in recent sessions. The U.S. index futures point to a modestly higher opening on Friday. A few key earnings reports released after the markets closed yesterday have largely been negative. Meanwhile, on the economic front, traders could react to a consumer sentiment reading and the Conference Board's data on the leading economic indicators index for the U.S. Risk appetite is on the wane, with the dollar gaining strength on the back of expectations that the Fed's stimulus measures may be rolled back earlier than anticipated. At the same time, oil is trading modestly higher. The Dow futures are moving up 41 points, the S&P 500 Index futures are adding 4.60 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are gaining 4.75 points. After showing resilience in recent sessions, U.S. stocks had an off day on Thursday, as traders digested a batch of mixed economic reports and disappointing earnings from Wal-Mart (WMT). On the economic front, Reuters and the University of Michigan are scheduled to the release the preliminary reading of their consumer sentiment index for May at 9:55 am ET. Economists expect an increase in the index to 78 in May from 76.4 in April.