Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Thursday, regaining ground after moving mostly lower over the two previous sessions. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.5 percent.
Traders may look to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the pullback seen to start the week, which dragged the Dow down to its lowest closing level in almost a month.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq may benefit from a surge by shares of Apple (AAPL), with the tech giant jumping by 2.1 percent in premarket trading after Bank of America upgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Buy.
Buying interest may be somewhat subdued, however, as treasury yields have advanced following the release of a Labor Department report showing an unexpected decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended January 13th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 187,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 203,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 207,000 from the 202,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected decline, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 182,000 in the week ended September 24, 2022.
After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks remained mostly lower throughout the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages added to the losses posted during Tuesday’s session, with the Dow falling to its lowest closing level in almost a month.
The major averages regained ground going into the close of trading but remained in negative territory. The Dow dipped 94.45 points or 0.3 percent to 37,266.67, the Nasdaq slid 88.73 points or 0.6 percent to 14,855.62 and the S&P 500 fell 26.77 points or 0.6 percent to 4,739.21.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. While Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.8 percent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index closed marginally lower and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid b 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has jumped by 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are edging down $0.08 to $72.48 a barrel after inching up $0.16 to $72.56 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after tumbling $23.70 to $2,006.50 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $8 to $2,014.50 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 148.24 yen versus the 148.16 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0854 compared to yesterday’s $1.0883.
Business News
Futures Pointing To Initial Rebound On Wall Street
2024-01-18 13:52:38
