U.S. stocks look headed for a weak start on Thursday, extending recent losses, as investors are likely to make cautious moves after the minutes from the Fed’s most recent policy meeting suggested some members were in favor of discussing about tapering bond-buying programs.
Weekly jobless claims data, corporate earnings announcements, cryptocurrencies movements and crude oil prices are likely to provide some direction to the market.
Data on jobless claims for the week ended May 15 is due out at 8:30 AM ET. The consensus is for 460,000, while it was up 473,000 in the prior week.
A report on Philly Fed’s Manufacturing Index for the month of May is also due at 8:30 AM ET.
The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury Notes came off yesterday’s high, and was hovering around 1.678%, ahead of the release of U.S. jobless claims data.
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin briefly moved past $40,000 this morning, after having plunged to near $30,000 on Wednesday.
Department store chain Kohl’s Corp. (KSS) reported a first-quarter net income of $14 million or $0.09 per share, compared to a net loss of $541 million or $3.52 per share in the prior-year quarter. The company also raised its earnings guidance for the full-year 2021 to $3.80 to $4.20 per share, up from a previous guidance of $2.45 to $2.95 per share.
The session will see the debut of Oatly, with the stock entering the Nasdaq fold today. The company had raised $1.4 billion through its IPO, at $17 per share.
The Dow, which plunged more than 580 points to 33,473.80, recovered to close at 33,896.04 with a loss of 164.62 points or 0.48 percent on Wednesday. The S&P 500 finished with a loss of 12.15 points or 0.29 percent at 4,115.68, while the Nasdaq settled with a small loss of 3.90 points or 0.03 percent at 13,299.74.
In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday after the FOMC meeting minutes suggested the U.S. central bank has begun debating whether to normalize monetary policy. Chinese shares closed flat as the country’s central bank kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged, as widely expected.
After opening on a firm note and briefly falling into negative territory, the major European markets are modestly higher with investors focusing in earnings, shrugging off concerns about Bitcoin’s plunge.
Business News
U.S. Stocks Likely To Open Lower; Economic Data, Earnings News In Focus
2021-05-20 12:27:50
