Futures Suggests That Wall Street Might Open Broadly Higher

A slew of U.S. economic announcements are expected on Thursday and the weekly Jobless Claims and Retail Sales might be the highlights of the day.

In the Asian trading session, the dollar weakened, while gold held steady. Oil extended gains.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open mostly up.

As of 7.50 am ET, the Dow futures were down 103.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 2.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 43.00 points.

The U.S. major averages finished higher on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 466.84 points or 2.5 percent to 19,511.23.

On the economic front, the Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 212K, while it was up 201K in the prior week.

The Commerce Department’s Retail Sales report for December is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.5 percent, while it was up 0.7 percent in the prior month.

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for January will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 7.0, while it was down 16.4 in the prior month.

The Import and Export Prices for December will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.1 percent, while it was up 0.1 percent in November.

The Business Inventories report for November will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.1 percent, while it was up 0.1 percent in the prior month.

The Housing Market Index for January is expected at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 46.0, while it was up 46 in the prior month.

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 down 40 bcf.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be presented at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was up $6.854 trillion.

Asian stocks advanced on Thursday. China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 0.28 percent to 3,236.03. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied 1.23 percent to 19,522.89.

Japanese markets eked out modest gains. The Nikkei average edged up by 0.33 percent to 38,572.60 while the broader Topix index settled marginally lower at 2,688.31.

Australian markets rallied. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.38 percent to 8,327. The broader All Ordinaries index settled 1.33 percent higher at 8,569.10.

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