U.S. Stocks May Lack Direction Ahead Of Powell Remarks

Stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday, extending the volatility seen over the course of the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by just 0.1 percent.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as they look ahead to remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which are set to kick off just as the markets close.

Powell is scheduled host a town hall with educators in Washington, D.C. and nationwide via webcast, with the Fed chief set to respond to questions from the in-person audience and virtual participants from across the country.

While Powell may not specifically address the outlook for monetary policy, traders will still be looking for clues amid recent concerns about additional interest rate hikes.

A report due to be released Friday morning includes readings on inflation said to be preferred, and traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the data.

The Commerce Department released a report this morning showing the pace of U.S. economic growth in the second quarter of 2023 was unrevised from the previous estimate.

The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product increased by 2.1 percent in the second quarter, unrevised from the estimate provided last month. The unrevised reading matched economist estimates.

The unrevised GDP growth in the second quarter still reflects a slight slowdown compared to the 2.2 percent growth in the first quarter.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed a slight increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended September 23rd.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims crept up to 204,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 202,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000 from the 201,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Not long after the start of trading, the National Association of Realtors is due to release its report on pending home sales in the month of August. Pending home sales are expected to decrease by 0.8 percent in August after climbing by 0.9 percent in July.

Following the sell-off seen during Tuesday’s session, stocks saw substantial volatility over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages spent the day showing wild swings back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Dow slipped 68.61 points or 0.2 percent to a new three-month closing low of 33,550.27, the S&P 500 crept up 0.98 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,274.51 and the Nasdaq rose 29.24 points or 0.2 percent to 13,092.85.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index and South Korea’s Kospi both inched up by 0.1 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent, while the German DAX Index is up by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.50 to $93.18 a barrel after soaring $3.29 to $93.68 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after tumbling $28.90 to $1,890.90 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $4.40 to $1,895.30 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 149.45 yen versus the 149.63 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0529 compared to yesterday’s $1.0503.

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