Futures Point To Broadly Lower Open For Wall Street
(RTTNews) - The reports from Ukraine and Russia regarding the ongoing war might be impacting the investor sentiments on Thursday. Reports on weekly jobless claims, factory orders, and service sector activity also might be influencing the markets.
Asian shares finished broadly up, while European shares are trading mostly lower. Early cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open mostly down.
As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were gaining 15.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 0.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were tumbling 29.75 points.
The U.S. major averages held on to strong gains going into the close on Wednesday. The Dow shot 596.40 points or 1.8 percent at 33,891.35, the Nasdaq jumped 219.56 points or 1.6 percent to 13,752.02 and the S&P 500 spiked 80.28 points or 1.9 percent to 4,386.54.
On the economic front, the Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for initial claims is 232K, while it was up 232K in the prior week.
The Labor Department's Productivity and Costs for the fourth quarter is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 6.7 percent, while it was up 6.6 percent in the prior quarter.
US Services Purchasing Managers' Index or PMI Composite Final for February will be issued at 9.45 am ET. The consensus is 56.0. The Commerce Department's Factory Orders for January will be revealed at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 0.5 percent, while it was down 0.4 percent in the prior month.
ISM Services Index for February will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for 60.9, while it was up 59.9 in the prior month. The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be released at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $8.928 trillion.
Asian stocks posted strong gains on Thursday. Chinese shares ended marginally lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended up 0.55 percent at 22,467.34.
Japanese shares advanced as worries eased of aggressive Fed rate hikes. The Nikkei average rose 184.24 points, or 0.70 percent, to 26,577.27 while the broader Topix index ended 1.18 percent higher at 1,881.80. Marine transportation, oil and coal product, and bank issues topped the gainers' list.
Australian markets extended gains for the fifth day. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 34.70 points, or 0.49 percent, to 7,151.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 40.50 points, or 0.55 percent, at 7,446.80.
European shares are trading mostly lower. CAC 40 of France is adding 4.51 points or 0.07 percent. DAX of Germany is down 85.78 points or 0.62 percent. FTSE 100 of England is declining 51.23 points or 0.69 percent. Swiss Market Index is sliding 82.30 points or 0.68 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.23 percent.
