(RTTNews) - Following the Thanksgiving Day holiday, stocks are poised to move sharply lower on Friday amid concerns about a financial crisis in Dubai. The major index futures are indicating considerable early weakness, with the Dow futures down by 210 points.

The downward momentum comes after Dubai World, the main investment arm of Dubai, asked to postpone payment on some of its $60 billion in debt. Worries about a default by the city-state have raised significant concerns about the impact on banks.

The news has contributed to substantial weakness in overseas markets that appears poised to carry over into the U.S. markets. Light volume on Wall Street amid a holiday-shortened session could contribute to increased volatility.

Among individual stocks, shares of ING (ING) could be in focus after the financial services giant price its 7.5 billion euro rights issue. ING said it would issue 1.77 billion shares at 4.24 euros each

Shares of Hudson Valley Holding (HUVL) are moving higher in pre-market trading after the company's board of directors declared a 10 percent common stock dividend for shareholders of record as of the close of business December 7, 2009.

After showing a lack of direction in early trading, stocks moved modestly higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday. While buying interest remained somewhat subdued, the major averages managed to end the day firmly in positive territory.

The major averages moved roughly sideways in late day trading, ending the session modestly higher. The Dow closed up 30.69 points or 0.3 percent at 10,464.40, the Nasdaq rose 6.87 points or 0.3 percent to 2,176.05 and the S&P 500 advanced 4.98 points or 0.5 percent to 1,110.63.

Crude oil futures are trading down $3.14 at $74.82 a barrel after rising $1.94 to $77.96 a barrel on Wednesday. Gold futures, which ended the previous session up $21.20 at $1,188.60, are currently moving down $21 to $1,167.60.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 86.61 yen, while the greenback is currently valued at $1.4922 versus the euro compared to yesterday's $1.5019.

In overseas trading, stocks markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended sharply lower on Friday on concerns about the financial crisis in Dubai. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell 3.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged 4.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned higher after moving sharply lower in early trading. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is currently up 0.4 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both up 0.5 percent.

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