Stocks May Experience Choppy Trading Following Holiday - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Following the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, stocks may show a lack of direction during an abbreviated trading session on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a mixed open for the markets.

While the Dow and Nasdaq futures are up by 13 points and 11 points, respectively, the S&P 500 futures are down by 2 points.

Trading is likely to be impacted by reaction to a sharp drop by the price of crude oil, with crude for January delivery plunging $4.35 to $69.34 a barrel.

The steep decline by the price of oil comes amid news that the powerful Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it won't cut production levels despite the recent drop in prices.

Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Al-Naimi said OPEC would maintain its oil production target at 30 million barrels per day.

"With another sharp drop in oil prices, consumers and transportation companies rejoice and the BoJ, ECB, BoE and Fed stew that their inflation targets are now more difficult to achieve," said Peter Boockvar, managing director at the Lindsey Group.

At the same time, Boockvar noted, "The U.S. oil and gas industry, one of the fastest growing and vibrant areas of the U.S. economy over the past 5 years, is potentially on the cusp of a major slowdown."

While the sharp drop by the price of crude oil is likely to drive trading in certain sectors, overall activity is likely to be relatively subdued.

Many traders are likely to remain away from their desks following the holiday on Thursday and ahead of today's early close on Wall Street.

After turning in a lackluster performance for much of the session, stocks managed to end Wednesday's trading mostly higher. The gains lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs, while the Nasdaq reached its best levels since 2000.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the Dow edged up only 12.81 points or 0.1 percent to 17,827.75. The Nasdaq advanced 29.07 points or 0.6 percent to 4,787.32 and the S&P 500 climbed 5.80 points or 0.3 percent to 2,072.83.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 1.2 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index tumbled by 1.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has edged down by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, the most actively traded February gold futures are sliding $10.90 to $1,186.60 an ounce after edging down $0.30 to $1,197.50 an ounce on Wednesday.

Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 118.31 yen compared to the 117.61 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.2486 compared to Wednesday's $1.2467.