U.S. Stocks May Move Back To The Downside In Early Trading

Following the substantial rebound seen in the previous session, stocks are likely to move back to the downside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 290 points.

Lingering concerns about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict may lead to a pullback on Wall Street, as peace talks between the countries resulted in little progress on key issues.

After speaking with his Russian counterpart, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said no progress had been made on Ukraine’s proposal for a 24-hour ceasefire or the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to and from the besieged city of Mariupol.

A rebound by the price of crude oil may also weigh on Wall Street, with crude for April delivery spiking $4.50 to $113.20 a barrel after plunging by more than 12 percent on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, shares of Amazon (AMZN) are likely to be in focus after the online retail giant announced a 20-for-1 stock split and a $10 billion stock buyback.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing consumer prices increased in line with economist estimates in the month of February.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index climbed by 0.8 percent in February after rising by 0.6 percent in January. The increase in prices matched economist estimates.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices rose by 0.5 percent in February following a 0.6 percent advance in January. The core price growth also met expectations.

The report also showed the annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated to 7.9 percent in February from 7.5 percent in January, reaching the highest rate since January 1982.

The annual rate of core consumer price growth also accelerated to 6.4 percent in February from 6.0 percent in January, showing the fastest growth since August 1982.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed a modest increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended March 5th.

The report showed initial jobless claims crept up to 227,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 216,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to tick up to 216,000 from the 215,000 originally reported for the previous week.

After closing lower for four consecutive sessions, stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside during trading on Wednesday. The major averages all moved sharply higher on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a standout gain.

The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow jumped 653.61 points or 2 percent to 33,286.25, the Nasdaq spiked 459.99 points or 3.6 percent to 13,255.55 and the S&P 500 surged 107.18 points or 2.6 percent to 4,277.88.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved substantially higher during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index soared by 3.9 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index shot up by 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have pulled back sharply following the rebound seen in the previous session. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has slumped by 1.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 2.6 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are spiking $4.50 to $113.20 a barrel after plummeting $15 to $108.70 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after plunging $55.10 to $1,988.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $20.10 to $2,008.30 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 116.02 yen versus the 115.83 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1070 compared to yesterday’s $1.1076.

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