Wall Street Set To Open Broadly Low

The Labor Department’s Jobless Claims and second-quarter GDP, Data on personal consumption expenditure are the focus on Thursday.

The political turmoil in Afghanistan is a concern for the U.S. and the revival of Taliban rule might help resurrect Al Qaeda and other extremist units.

The uptick of the new strain of COVID – 19 is continuing, while the vaccination across the globe is at a slow pace.

Early pre-market trends on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly lower.
As of 8.00 am ET, the Dow futures were up 43.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 1.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were declining 23.50 points.

The U.S. major indices gained at Wednesday’s closing. The Dow ended the session with a gain of 39.24 points or 0.11 percent at 35,405.40. The S&P 500, which advanced to 4,501.71, closed up by 9.96 points or 0.22 percent at 4,496.19, while the tech-laden Nasdaq settled with a gain of 22.06 points or 0.15 percent at 15,041.86, off a fresh intraday high of 15,059.43.

On the economic front, the Gross Domestic Product or GDP for the second quarter is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 6.6 percent, while it was up 6.5 percent in the previous quarter.

The Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be announced at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 340K, while it was up 348K in the prior week.

Corporate Profits for the second quarter will be published at 8.30 am ET. In the prior quarter, the after-tax were up 28.1 percent.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 46 bcf.

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Manufacturing Index for August is scheduled at 11.00 am ET. The consensus is for 30, while it was up 30 in the prior month.

A seven-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be published at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $8.343 trillion.

Asian stocks fell on Thursday. Chinese shares fell sharply. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index fell 38.72 points, or 1.09 percent, to 3,501.66. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled 278.26 points, or 1.08 percent, to finish at 25,415.69.

Japanese shares ended a choppy session on a mixed note. The Nikkei average edged up 17.49 points to settle at 27,742.29 while the broader Topix index ended with a negative bias at 1,935.35.

Australian markets ended lower to snap a three-day winning streak. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 40.70 points, or 0.54 percent, to 7,491.20. The broader All Ordinaries index ended down 39.20 points, or half a percent, at 7,770.40.

European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is down 15.18 points or 0.23 percent. The German DAX is losing 79.58 points or 0.51 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is declining 17.08 points or 0.24 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is adding 31.38 points or 0.25 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.38 percent.

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