Wall Street Set To Open Higher Ahead Of GDP, Jobless Claims

GDP for the second quarter, Jobless Claims as well as Corporate Profits might influence the investor sentiments on Thursday.

Investors are looking forward to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday for further clarity on the monetary policy outlook. Powell might continue with the central bank’s hawkish stance.

Initial signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive.

Asian shares finished mostly up, while European shares are gaining broadly higher on the day.

As of 7.40 am ET, the Dow futures were up 123.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 26.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 100.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished higher on Wednesday. The Dow ended with a gain of 59.64 points or 0.18 percent at 32,969.23. The S&P 500 settled at 4,140.77, gaining 12.04 points or 0.29 percent, while the Nasdaq advanced 50.23 points or 0.41 percent to 12,431.53.

On the economic front, the Gross Domestic Product for the second quarter will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of 0.9 percent, while it was down 0.9 percent in the prior quarter.

The Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 255k, while it was up 250k in the previous week.

The Corporate Profits for the second quarter will be published at 8.30 am ET. In the prior quarter, the after-tax corporate profits were up 15.2 percent.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week will be released at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the natural gas stock was up 18 bcf.
Seven-year Treasury Note Auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be revealed at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was up$8.850 trillion.

Asian stocks advanced on Thursday. Chinese shares gained on the day. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.97 percent to 3,246.25.

Hong Kong’s technology-heavy Hang Seng index jumped 3.63 percent to 19,968.38.

Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei average rose 0.58 percent to 28,479.01. The broader Topix index closed 0.48 percent higher at 1,976.60.

Australian markets rose notably. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index gained 0.71 percent to finish at 7,048.10, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 0.68 percent to 7,291.90.

European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is gaining 11.18 points or 0.18 percent. DAX of Germany is progressing 10.84 points or 0.17 percent. FTSE 100 of England is up 19.24 points or 0.25 percent. Swiss Market Index is gaining 3.29 points or 0.03 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.21 percent.

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