Stock Futures Jump; Facebook Debut on Tap

FOX Business: The Power to Prosper

The markets looked to close out the tough week on a high note, with stock-index futures solidly in the green, as traders looked forward to Facebook's highly anticipated Wall Street debut.

Today's Markets

As of 9:05 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 38 points to 12451, S&P 500 futures gained 5.1 points to 1306 and Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 4.5 points to 2510.

The S&P 500 is on a five-day losing streak, having shed 3.9% over so many days. Indeed, the broad-market index is now sitting at its lowest level since the middle of January. The losses have been driven by a growing fear that the tumult in Greece will cascade into other weak eurozone nations, like Spain, and a signs pointing to a slower economic recovery in the U.S.

To that end, Moody's Investors Service slashed the credit rating of 16 Spanish lenders, and a U.K. subsidiary of Banco Santander, after the closing bell on Thursday. The ratings company cited a weakening individual credit assessment for the banks and the government's lessening ability to step in if needed.

On Friday, however, all eyes were on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where Facebook is set to begin trading at roughly 11:00 a.m. ET. The social network priced 421 million shares at $38 each on Thursday, which was at the high end of its range. That means the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company will have a valuation exceeding $100 billion.

"Only time will tell whether this most-awaited of IPOs will be enough to distract everyone from the unfolding drama in Europe," David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index in London wrote in an e-mail.

Commodities markets were mixed on the day. Crude oil traded in New York rose 25 cents, or 0.27%, to $92.80 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline slipped 0.19% to $2.87 a gallon.

In metals, gold jumped $16.10, or 1%, to $1,591 a troy ounce. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury climbed 0.038-percentage point to 1.738% after closing on the day on Thursday at a record low.

Foreign Markets

Eurozone blue chips jumped 0.85%, the English FTSE 100 fell 0.52% to 5311 and the German DAX edged higher by 0.29% to 6327.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 plunged 3% to 8611 and the Chinese Hang Seng sold off by 1.3% to 18952.