Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Thursday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction after ending the previous session modestly higher.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole symposium on Friday.

Comments from Fed officials at the meeting may impact the outlook for monetary policy following recent indications the central bank plans to begin scaling back asset purchases this year.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, extending recent uptrend amid continued optimism about growth and on hopes the Federal Reserve might not begin tapering its bond-buying program anytime soon.

Investors looked ahead to the upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium. The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to provide cues on the central bank’s tapering timeline.

At the virtual conference on Friday, the Federal Reserve’s policymakers are expected to present a timeline for tapering the central bank’s bond-buying program.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq climbed to fresh record highs and the Dow closed up as well.

The Dow ended the session with a gain of 39.24 points or 0.11 percent at 35,405.40. The S&P 500, which advanced to 4,501.71, closed up by 9.96 points or 0.22 percent at 4,496.19, while the tech-laden Nasdaq settled with a gain of 22.06 points or 0.15 percent at 15,041.86, off a fresh intraday high of 15,059.43.

On the economic front, data released by the Commerce Department showed durable goods orders edged down by 0.1 percent in July following a 0.8 percent increase in June. Economists had expected orders to decrease by 0.3 percent.

Excluding a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.7 percent in July after rising by 0.6 percent in June. Ex-transportation orders were expected to increase by 0.5 percent.

American Express gained more than 3 percent. Travelers Companies climbed more than 2.5 percent and JP Morgan Chase advanced nearly 2 percent.

Honeywell International, Chevron, Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar posted moderate gains.

Salesforce.com closed on a firm note despite reporting a drop in earnings. The company said its second-quarter earnings totaled $0.54 billion, or $0.56 per share, as against $2.63 billion, or $2.85 per share, in last year’s second quarter.

Apple, United Health, Visa, Amgen, Merck, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble drifted lower.

Nordstrom shares plunged more than 17 percent after the company announced that it would only be in a position to return cash to shareholders by the end of year, as it expects costs to continue rising into the second half of its fiscal year.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are falling $0.74 to $67.62 a barrel after climbing $0.82 to $68.36 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after tumbling $17.50 to $1,791 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $0.90 to $1,791.90 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 110.10 yen versus the 110.11 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1758 compared to yesterday’s $1.1772.

Asia

Asian stocks fell on Thursday as COVID-19 worries persisted and South Korea became one of the first major Asian economy to start exiting record-low borrowing costs.

Investors also awaited Fed Chair Jerome Powel’s remarks at the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole gathering for clues on the timing of a tapering of monetary stimulus.

Chinese shares fell sharply as investors awaited more clarity on regulatory reforms and their impact on the technology sector. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index fell 38.72 points, or 1.09 percent, to 3,501.66. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled 278.26 points, or 1.08 percent, to finish at 25,415.69.

Japanese shares ended a choppy session on a mixed note as investors eyed the upcoming election of the ruling party. The Nikkei average edged up 17.49 points to settle at 27,742.29 while the broader Topix index ended with a negative bias at 1,935.35.

Airlines gained the most, with Japan Airlines and ANA Holdings climbing 2.9 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Central Japan Railway gained 1.3 percent and East Japan Railway added 1.8 percent.

Toshiba advanced 1.7 percent on reports that Western Digital was in advanced talks for a potential $20 billion stock merger with semiconductor firm Kioxia Holdings Corp, of which Toshiba owns 40 percent stake.

Australian markets ended lower to snap a three-day winning streak, with tech stocks and gold miners pacing the declines.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 40.70 points, or 0.54 percent, to 7,491.20 as New South Wales State, which includes the country’s most populous city Sydney, announced a record 1,029 coronavirus cases for the previous 24 hours. The broader All Ordinaries index ended down 39.20 points, or half a percent, at 7,770.40.

Newcrest mining, Norther Star Resources and Regis Resources fell around 3 percent after bullion prices dropped over 1 percent overnight. Appen fell as much as 21.4 percent in the tech sector. The machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) firm reported a 35 percent slump in its half-year underlying net profit.

Seoul stocks retreated to snap a three-day winning streak as the Bank of Korea delivered its first pandemic-era rate hike to control inflation and household debt.
The Kospi average slipped 18.28 points, or 0.58 percent, to 3,128.53. Samsung Electronics, Naver and LG Chem all ended own over 1 percent.

New Zealand shares fell sharply after a2 Milk reported a nearly 80 percent slump in full-year profit. The benchmark NZX-50 index dropped 121.86 points, or 0.93 percent, to 13,051.62 while a2 Milk shares plummeted 11.3 percent.

Europe

European stocks fell in cautious trade Thursday as COVID-19 worries persisted and a survey showed that the outlook amongst consumers in Germany is deteriorating heading into September.

Gfk forward looking consumer confidence index dropped from -0.4 to -1.2, marking the worst reading in three months as accelerating inflation and rising COVID-19 cases made consumers more hesitant to buy.

Uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy also weighed, with investors awaiting the outcome of the Jackson Hole symposium for clues on the timing of a tapering of monetary stimulus.

The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped half a percent to 469.59 after ending flat with a positive bias on Wednesday. The German DAX shed 0.7 percent, France’s CAC 40 index gave up half a percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.4 percent.

Travel-related stocks fell, with IAG, Lufthansa, Air France KLM, TUI AG and Wizz Air Holdings losing 1-2 percent.

British recruitment company Hays rallied 2 percent after it proposed to resume core and special dividends.

Miner Polymetal lost 2 percent after revising its FY2021 capex guidance.

Building material company CRH advanced 1.4 percent after posting positive first-half results.

Vivendi shares jumped 3.9 percent. Universal Music Group, a unit of the French media conglomerate, said it expects further revenue growth this year and it would pay out half of its profits as dividends in the medium term.

Bouygues advanced 1.5 percent. The industrial group raised its guidance after reporting strong growth in sales and earnings during the first half of 2021.

German online food-delivery service Delivery Hero SE declined 1.5 percent after widening its first-half net loss.

Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm DWS Group plunged 12.4 percent on a report the company is being investigated by U.S. authorities over sustainability claims. Deutsche Bank shares were down nearly 2 percent.

U.S. Economic Reports

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly higher in the week ended August 21st, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 353,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 349,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to tick up to 350,000 from the 348,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average fell to 366,500, a decrease of 11,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 378,000.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month’s auction of $62 billion worth of seven-year notes.