Wall Street Might Open Lower

Initial cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower.
ADP’s private-sector jobs report, initial jobless claims, and service sector activity might get special attention on Thursday.

Asian shares finished broadly higher, while European shares are trading down.

As of 7.55 am ET, the Dow futures were down 217.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 31.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 140.50 points.

The U.S. Indexes finished slightly higher on Wednesday. The Dow inched up 25.07 points or 0.1 percent to 34,600.38, the Nasdaq edged up 19.85 points or 0.1 percent to 13,756.33 and the S&P 500 crept up 6.08 points or 0.1 percent to 4,208.12.

On the economic front, Automatic Data Processing or ADP’s Employment Report for May will be issued at 8.15 am ET. The consensus is for 650,000, while it was up 742,000 in the prior month.

The Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 400K, while it was up 406K in the prior week.

The Labor Department’s Productivity and Costs for the first quarter will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 5.5 percent, while it was up 5.4 percent in the prior quarter.

The PMI Composite Final for May will be issued at 9.45 am ET. The consensus is for 68.1, while it was up 63.5 in April.

ISM Services Index for May is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 63.1, while it was 62.1 in the prior month.

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 up 115 bcf. EIA’s Petroleum Status Report for the week is scheduled at 11.00 am ET. In the prior week, the Crude Oil Inventories were down 1.7 million barrels and Gasoline Inventories were down 1.7 million barrels.

Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be issued at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $7.904 trillion.

Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Thursday. China’s Shanghai Composite index dropped 12.93 points, or 0.36 percent, to 3,584.21 after a private survey showed that services activity growth slowed in May.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 331.59 points, or 1.13 percent, to 28,966.03 as investors weighed inflation concerns.

Japanese shares rose as optimism over the nation’s vaccine rollout. The Nikkei average rose 111.97 points, or 0.39 percent, to 29,058.11 while the broader Topix index closed 0.84 percent higher at 1,958.70, marking its highest level since April 19.

Australian markets hit a record high for the second day. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 42.30 points, or 0.59 percent, to 7,260.10 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 41.80 points, or 0.56 percent, at 7,510.70.

European shares are trading lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is sliding 41.99 points or 0.66 percent. The German DAX is losing 118.05 points or 0.75 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is down 89.10 points or 1.25 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is declining by 40.17 points or 0.35 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.83 percent.

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