Wall Street Aims To Open Positive

The market might react to the announcement of the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey or JOLTS on Thursday.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive.
Asian shares finished mostly higher, while European shares are trading mostly down.

The House has passed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, with the total spent on Covid relief is expected to be $5.5 trillion.

During the pandemic period, U.S. has recorded total COVID -19 infections of 29 million, and 529,000 people have died. Total reported cases across the globe were 118 million and the total death was 2.6 million.

As of 7.30 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 103.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 26.20 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 212.75 points.

The U.S. major indices closed mostly higher on Wednesday. The Dow surged up 464.28 points or 1.5 percent to 32,297.02 and the S&P 500 climbed 23.37 points or 0.6 percent to 3,898.81. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq slipped 4.99 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 13,068.83.

On the economic front, the Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 725K, while it was up 745K in the previous week. In the prior week, the initial claims were 9K.

The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey or JOLTS for January will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for 6.585 million, while it was up 6.646 million in the previous week.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural gas report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the Gas stock was down 98 bcf.

10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS will be published at 11.00 am ET.

20-year Treasury Bond will be issued at 11.00 am ET. 30-year Treasury Bond will be released at 1.00 pm ET.

The Fed Balance sheet for the week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $7.558 trillion.

Asian stocks ended higher on Thursday. Chinese stocks led regional gains. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index jumped 79.09 points, or 2.36 percent, to 3,436.83, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended up 478.09 points, or 1.65 percent, at 29,385.61.

Japanese stocks rose on Thursday. The benchmark Nikkei edged up 175.08 points, or 0.60 percent, to 29,211.64, while the broader Topix index closed 0.27 percent higher at 1,924.92.

Australian markets hit a five-week low before ending a choppy session on a flat note. ASX All ordinaries finished up 5.70 points of 0.08 percent at 6,952.90.

European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is progressing 9.59 points or 0.16 percent. The German DAX is losing 9.68 points or 0.07 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is down 24.78 points or 0.37 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is declining 42.67 points or 0.39 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.25 percent.