Wall Street Aims To Open Significantly Positive

Initial Jobless Claims, GDP and Durable Goods Orders might be the highlights on Thursday.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open higher.

Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading positive.

As of 8.05 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 183.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were progressing 21.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 90.00 points.

The U.S. major averages finished broadly lower on Wednesday. The Nasdaq crept up 18.47 points or 0.1 percent to 14,271.73, the Dow slipped 71.34 points or 0.2 percent to 33,874.24 and the S&P 500 edged down 4.60 points or 0.1 percent to 4,241.84.

On the economic front, Durable Goods Orders for May will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 2.0 percent, while it was down 1.3 percent in the prior month.

The Commerce Department’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP for the first quarter will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 6.4 percent, while it was up 6.4 percent in the prior quarter.

International Trade in Goods for May will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $87.9, while the deficit in April was $85.2 billion.

The Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 380K, while it was up 412K in the previous week.

Corporate Profits for the first quarter will be released at 8.30 am ET. In the prior year over year quarter the increase was 25.2 percent.

Retail Inventories (Advance) for May will be issued at 8.30 am ET. In the prior month, the Inventories were down 1.6 percent.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET.

Seven-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be issued at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $8.064 trillion.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will participate in virtual moderated discussion hosted by the College of Staten Island about Staten Island’s economy at 11.00 am ET.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard will give presentation on the U.S. economy and monetary policy before the Clayton Chamber of Commerce Power Hour Virtual Speaker Series at 1.00 pm ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will participate in moderated question-and-answer session before the virtual Headliners Club of Austin event at 1.00 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended Thursday’s session mixed. Chinese shares ended little changed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index inched up marginally to 3,566.65 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended up 65.39 points, or 0.23 percent, at 28,882.46.

Japanese shares ended a choppy session on a flat note. The Nikkei average finished marginally higher at 28,875.23, while the broader Topix index closed 0.10 percent lower at 1,947.10.

Australian markets ended modestly lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 23.20 points, or 0.32 percent, to 7,275.30, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 13 points, or 0.17 percent, at 7,539.10.

European shares are trading higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is progressing 70.79 points or 1.08 percent. The German DAX is adding 115.05 points or 0.74 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is gaining 43.00 points or 0.61 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is adding 80.44 points or 0.68 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.98 percent.