Wall Street Set To Open Broadly Up

The weekly jobless claims might be the focus on Thursday. The Labor Department’s more closely watched monthly jobs report is scheduled on Friday.

Early trends on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly up.

Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading positive.

As of 7.45 am ET, the Dow futures were up 43.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 4.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 14.75 points.

The U.S. major averages finished mostly lower on Wednesday. The Dow rose 80.34 points or 0.2 percent to 33,482.72, the S&P 500 spent the day in negative territory before closing down 10.22 points or 0.3 percent to 4,090.38. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a more significant move to the downside, slumping 129.47 points or 1.1 percent to 11,996.86 and pulling back further off last Friday’s six-month closing high.

On the economic front, the Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 201K, while it was up 198K in the previous week.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 47 bcf.

30-year Treasury Bond Auction, Three-year, and Ten-year Treasury Note auctions will be held at 11.00 am ET.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week is scheduled at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North American rig count was up 894, and the U.S. rig count was up 755.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was up $8.706 trillion.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard will give a presentation on the U.S. economy and monetary policy before the Arkansas State Bank Department’s Day with the Commissioner event at 11.00 am ET.

Asian stocks fell broadly on Thursday. Chinese shares finished with a negative bias. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index finished marginally higher at 20,277.01 after a choppy session.

Japanese shares fell sharply. The Nikkei average fell 1.10 percent to 27,507.65, while the broader Topix index closed 0.91 percent lower at 1,965.74.

Australian markets closed lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.31 percent to 7,214.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.36 percent lower at 7,407.50.

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