Wall Street Aims To Open Broadly Lower

Asian shares finished mixed on Thursday, while European shares are trading positive.
Early cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open.

Initial signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly lower.

As of 7.50 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 117.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 7.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were adding 0.75 points.

The U.S. major indices finished lower on Wednesday. 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. The S&P 500 finished with a loss of 12.15 points or 0.29 percent at 4,115.68, off the session’s low of 4,061.41, while the Nasdaq settled with a small loss of 3.90 points or 0.03 percent at 13,299.74, way off the day’s low of 13,072.23.

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 460K, while it was up 473K in the prior week.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Fed Manufacturing Index for May will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 45.0, while it was up 50.2 in the prior month.

The Conference Board’s Leading Indicators for April will be released at 10.00 am ET.

The consensus is for an increase of 1.2 percent, while it was up 1.3 percent in March.

The Census Bureau’s quarterly services survey report for the first quarter is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. In the prior quarter, the Selected Services Revenue was up 4.6 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 71 bcf.

Two-year, five-year and seven-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 11.00 am ET. 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be released at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $7.831 trillion.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan to participate in moderated conversation on national and global economic issues before virtual Global Perspectives series hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas at 6.05 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended Thursday’s session on a mixed note. Chinese shares recouped losses to end on a flat note.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index ended down 4.02 points, or 0.11 percent, at 3,506.94 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid half a percent to close at 28,450.29.

Japanese shares rose slightly. The Nikkei average inched up 53.80 points, or 0.19 percent, to 28,098.25. The broader Topix index settled marginally higher at 1,895.92.

Australian markets rebounded from the heavy sell-off in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 87.90 points, or 1.27 percent, to 7,019.60, after having fallen 1.9 percent in the previous session. The broader All Ordinaries index ended up 86.90 points, or 1.21 percent, at 7,252.60.

European shares are trading higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is gaining 44.93 points or 0.72 percent. The German DAX is progressing 106.09 points or 0.70 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is up 19.59 points or 0.28 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is adding 57.38 points or 0.52 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.68 percent.

Business News