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

Following the pullback seen in the previous session, stocks are likely to move back to the upside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.8 percent.

Technology stocks may help lead an early rally on Wall Street, as reflected by the 1.5 percent jump by the Nasdaq 100 futures.

The upward momentum for the tech sector comes amid a pre-market surge by shares of Micron (MU), which are soaring by 17.4 percent.

Micron is moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after reporting better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and providing strong fiscal first quarter revenue guidance.

Stocks may also benefit from the release of upbeat U.S. economic data, with a Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended September 21st.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 218,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 222,000.

The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to rise to 225,000 from the 219,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 216,000 in the week ended May 18th.

The Commerce Department also released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods were virtually unchanged in the month of August.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders came in flat in August after soaring by 9.9 percent in July. Economists had expected durable goods orders to tumble by 2.6 percent.

Excluding a decrease in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in August after edging down by 0.1 percent in July. Ex-transportation orders were expected to inch up by 0.1 percent.

Shortly after the start of trading, the National Association of Realtors is due to release its report on pending home sales in the month of August. Pending home sales are expected to surge by 3.1 percent in August after plunging by 5.5 percent in July.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent gains that lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to record highs. Investors digested the latest set of economic data and assessed the central bank’s rate cut trajectory.

The Dow ended down 293.47 points or 0.7 percent at 41,914.75, snapping a four-session winning streak. The S&P 500 settled lower by 10.67 points or 0.2 percent at 5,722.26, while the Nasdaq closed up 7.68 points or less than a tenth of percent at 18,082.21.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.8 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index soared by 3.6 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has jumped by 1.6 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 1.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are tumbling $1.57 to $68.12 a barrel after plunging $1.87 to $69.69 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after rising $7.70 to $2,684.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $9.90 to $2,694.60 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 144.53 yen versus the 144.75 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1152 compared to yesterday’s $1.1132.

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