Wall Street Might Open Positive

The reaction to the slew of U.S. economic data, especially the weekly jobless claims, retail sales and industrial production might be the highlight on Thursday.

Early cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive.

As of 8.15 am ET, the Dow futures were up 78.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 27.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 176.75 points.

The U.S. major averages closed in positive territory on Wednesday. The Dow jumped 337.28 points or 0.8 percent to 43,077.70, the Nasdaq rose 51.49 points or 0.3 percent to 18,367.08 and the S&P 500 climbed 27.21 points or 0.5 percent to 5,842.47.

On the economic front, the Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 260K, while it was up 258K in the prior week.

The Department of Commerce’s Retails Sales report for September will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.1 percent in the prior month.

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for October will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 3.0, while it was up 1.7 in the prior month.

The Industrial Production for September will be revealed at 9.15 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.1 percent, while it was up 0.8 percent in August.

The Business Inventories for August is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is up 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.4 percent in the previous month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week is expected at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 82 bcf.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday. Chinese and Hong Kong markets finished lower.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.1 percent to 3,169.38. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.0 percent to 20,079.10.

Japanese markets fell. The Nikkei 225 Index slid 0.7 percent to 38,911.19, while the broader Topix Index settled 0.1 percent lower at 2,687.83.

Australian markets rallied to record levels. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.9 percent to 8,355.90, while the broader All Ordinaries Index closed up 0.8 percent at 8,624.10.

Business News