Futures Suggests Wall Street To Open Higher

Weekly Jobless Claims and Fed speeches including that of Fed Chair Jerome Powell might attract attention on Thursday.

Asian shares closed mixed, while European shares are trading broadly lower.

Initial cues from the U.S. Futures Index point to a positive open for Wall Street.

As of 7.45 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 2.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were gaining 14.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 116.00 points.

The U.S. major averages eventually ended Wednesday mixed. The Nasdaq edged down 9.54 points or 0.1 percent to 13,688.84, the Dow inched up 16.02 points or 0.1 percent to 33,446.26 and the S&P 500 rose 6.01 points or 0.2 percent to a new record closing high of 4,079.95.

On the economic front, the Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 680K, while it was up 719K in the prior week.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week is scheduled at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the natural gas stock was up 14 bcf.
Three-year and 10-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 11.00 am ET. 30-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 11.00 am ET.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be released at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was $7.689 trillion.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard will speak via Zoom to Southern Illinois University’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at 11.00 am ET.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will participate in the virtual International Monetary Fund Seminar: Debate on the Global Economy at 12.00 pm ET.

Asian stocks finished mixed on Thursday. China’s Shanghai Composite finished marginally higher at 3,482.55.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 333.27 points, or 1.16 percent, to 29,008.07.

Japanese shares edged lower on concerns about a spike in domestic Covid infections and possible restrictions on economic activity.

The Nikkei average slipped 21.81 points to 29,708.98 while the broader Topix index ended 0.79 percent lower at 1,951.86.

Australian markets rose sharply to hit a fresh post-pandemic high. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rallied 70.80 points or 1.02 percent, to finish at 6,998.80 after having hit as high as 7,012 earlier in the day. The broader All Ordinaries index ended up 72.90 points, or 1.02 percent, at 7,250.30.

European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is declining 25.81 points or 0.43 percent. The German DAX is losing 3.29 points or 0.02 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is gaining 28.44 points or 0.41 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is adding 40.96 points or 0.37 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.27 percent.

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