U.S. stocks pointed to a mixed open on Thursday as the market focuses on the battery of corporate earnings, including results from automakers Ford and Fiat Chrysler.
Oil prices nudged higher with global benchmark Brent Crude up 0.89% recently and U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate up 0.5% despite another big jump in U.S. stockpiles as the commodity found some support from a weakening dollar.
At 8:30 a.m., data showed the trade deficit narrowing to $65 billion in December from November's revised deficit of $6.6 billion and compared to the $65.5 billion deficit seen by forecasters. Unemployment claims rose more than expected to 259,000 in the Jan. 21 week from prior week's 234,000 compared to the 246,000 estimate, according to data compiled by Econoday.
At 10:00 a.m., new home sales are expected to inch higher in December at 593,000 from 592,000. Leading economic indicators are expected to bounce higher in December with a 0.4% gain.
In equities, Sherwin-Williams ( SHW ) shares were 7.3% higher after the manufacturer of coatings and paints reported Q4 financial results that topped analyst estimates.
U.S. PRE-MARKET INDICATORS
-Dow Jones Industrial up 0.06%
-S&P 500 futures down 0.02%
-Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.14%
-Nasdaq 100 pre-market indicator up 0.08%
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Nikkei up 1.81%
Hang Seng up 1.41%
Shanghai Composite up 0.31%
FTSE-100 up 0.17%
DAX-30 up 0.31%
PRE-MARKET SECTOR WATCH
(+/-) Large cap tech: mixed
(+/-) Chip stocks: mixed
(+) Software stocks: unchanged to higher
(+/-) Hardware stocks: mixed
(+) Internet stocks: higher
(+/-) Oil stocks: mixed
(+/-) Biotech stocks: mixed
(+/-) Drug stocks: mixed
(+) Financial stocks: unchanged to higher
(+) Retail stocks: unchanged to higher
(+/-) Industrial stocks: mixed
(+) Airlines: higher
(-) Autos: unchanged to lower
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) FCAU (+2.3%) Posts mixed Q4 results
(+) ERIC (+1.7%) Q4 profit misses views, beats on revenue
(+) STM (+4.9%) Q4 profit tops Street mark, revenues in line
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) BMY (-2.8%) Posts mixed Q4 results, narrows fiscal 2017 outlook
(-) CAT (-1%) Tops Q4 profit estimate, misses on revenues
(-) JNJ (-0.5%) To buy Actelion for $30 billion
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
