Wall Street Targets To Open Positive

The Weekly Jobless Claims might be the focus on Thursday. Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive.

In the Asian trading session, the dollar index held near multi-year highs. Gold nudged higher. Oil held year-end gains.

Asian shares finished mostly down, while European shares are trading broadly lower.

As of 7.45 am ET, the Dow futures were surging 305.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 48.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 219.50 points.

The U.S. major averages fell on Tuesday on the eve of the New Year. The Nasdaq slid 175.99 points or 0.9 percent to 19,310.79 and the S&P 500 fell 25.31 points or 0.4 percent to 5,881.63. The narrower Dow posted a more modest loss, edging down 29.51 points or 0.1 percent to 42,544.22.

On the economic front, the Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 225K, while it was up 219K in the prior week.

The Purchasing Manager’s Manufacturing Index or PMI for December will be released at 9.45 am ET. The consensus is 48.3, while it was up 48.3 in the prior month.

The Construction Spending for November is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.4 percent in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Petroleum Status Report for the week will be released at 11.00 am ET. In the prior week, the Crude Oil Inventories were down 4.2 million barrels and the gasoline inventories were up 1.6 million barrels.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be issued at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level is up $6.886 trillion.

Three-year and 10-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 11.00 am ET. The 30-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 11.00 am ET.

Asian stocks were mostly lower at the close on Thursday, after opening the New Year on a subdued note.

Chinese and Hong Kong markets fell sharply. China’s Shanghai Composite index tumbled 2.66 percent to 3,262.56.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2.18 percent to 19,623.32.

Japanese markets were closed through January 6.

Australian markets closed higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.52 percent to 8,201.20 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.53 percent higher at 8,465.

European shares are trading mostly down. CAC 40 of France is down 50.42 points or 0.68 percent. DAX of Germany is adding 11.01 points or 0.06 percent. FTSE 100 of England is progressing 39.88 points or 0.49 percent. The Swiss Market Index is up 11.56 points or 0.10 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.51 percent.

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