U.S. Stocks May See Further Downside In Early Trading

After moving mostly lower over the course of the two previous sessions, stocks may see further downside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by 0.6 percent.

Ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates may weigh on the markets amid a continued surge by U.S. treasury yields.

The yield on the benchmark ten-year note is extending the jump seen on Wednesday, reaching its highest levels in well over three months.

With the Federal Reserve warning about the impacts of labor market tightness, negative sentiment may also be generated in reaction to a Labor Department report unexpectedly showing a modest decrease in initial jobless claims.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 190,000 in the week ended February 25th, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 192,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 195,000.

Meanwhile, the Dow may benefit from a surge by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the cloud-based software company spiking by 16.2 percent in pre-market trading.

The jump by Salesforce comes after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results, provided upbeat guidance and increased its share buyback program to $20 billion.

Following the lackluster performance seen during Tuesday’s session, stocks continued to experience choppy trading on Wednesday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

Eventually, the Dow ended the day up 5.14 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 32,661.84, while the Nasdaq slid 76.06 points or 0.7 percent to 11,379.48 and the S&P 500 fell 18.76 points or 0.5 percent at 3,951.39.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi climbed by 0.6 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is just below the unchanged line and the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are inching up $0.09 to $77.78 a barrel after climbing $0.64 to $77.69 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after rising $8.70 to $1,845.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $4.90 to $1,840.50 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 136.98 yen versus the 136.19 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0591 compared to yesterday’s $1.0668.