09:23 AM EDT, 08/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US stocks look set to open higher in Friday's trading session as investors await Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech later in the morning at an economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Investors are also looking ahead to new home sales data for July, which will be coming out at about the same time: 10 am ET. According to Bloomberg, forecasters expect new home sales to rise to 624,000 for the month from 617,000 in June.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.5%, S&P 500 futures were rising 0.6%, and Nasdaq futures were moving near 1% higher.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmarks North Sea Brent crude up 1.4% to $78.30 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude up 1.7% at $74.22 per barrel.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 0.2%, and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.2%. Meanwhile in Europe's early afternoon session, the UK's FTSE 100 was up 0.3%, while Germany's DAX 30 and France's CAC 40 were up 0.5%, while Spain's IBEX 35 was up 0.6%.

In equities, shares of Sequans Communications ( SQNS ) soared nearly 160% in the premarket session after Qualcomm ( QCOM ) said Friday that its Qualcomm Technologies subsidiary agreed to acquire the French semiconductor company's 4G Internet of Things technologies for $200 million. Momentus' ( MNTS ) shares jumped 106% following a nearly 2% gain on Thursday. Portage Biotech's ( PRTG ) stock surged 66% after rising 2% the previous session. Faraday Future Intelligent Electric's ( FFIE ) shares advanced 28% after soaring 124% on Thursday. And shares of Pono Capital Two ( PTWO ) rose 49%, adding to a 18% gain the previous session.

On the losing side, shares of U-BX Technology ( UBXG ) plummeted 84%, adding to a 7% loss the previous session. ShiftPixy ( PIXY ) shares dropped nearly 8%, adding to a 1.7% loss on Thursday. Red Robin Gourmet Burgers' ( RRGB ) shares tumbled 14% after it reported Friday that its adjusted loss nearly doubled in Q2. Royce Global Trust's ( RGT ) shares fell 13%, following a 0.6% loss the previous session. And shares of Beneficient (BENF) lost nearly 13%, more than erasing Thursday's 9% gain.