U.S. index futures are rising in Thursday’s pre-market, with investors awaiting producer inflation data and retail sales, which impact U.S. interest rate projections for the year.
At 06:39 AM, Dow Jones futures (DOWI:DJI) rose 108 points, or 0.27%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.32%, and Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.46%. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was at 4.194%.
In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude for April rose 0.84% to $80.39 per barrel. Brent crude for May increased by 0.70% to around $84.62 per barrel. Iron ore traded on the Dalian exchange fell 2.62% to $110.99 per metric ton. Iron ore for April on the Singapore exchange dropped 2.37% to the lowest level since August 17, at $103.05 a ton.
At 08:30 AM, Thursday’s economic agenda is set to be busy with the release of the February producer price index, a key indicator for assessing inflationary pressure at the production level, and the last major economic data to be released before the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week. At the same time, unemployment insurance claims for the week ending last Saturday will be released, providing insights into the health of the labor market. Also at the same time, the Commerce Department will present February’s retail sales, with LSEG consensus forecasting a 0.3% monthly increase and a 1.1% annual increase.
Asia-Pacific stock markets ended Thursday without a clear trend and with modest movements, echoing the behavior observed on Wall Street the day before. The session was characterized by the absence of new stimuli that could guide investors, resulting in cautious adjustments by them. Japan’s Nikkei index managed a modest recovery of 0.29%, reaching 38,807.38 points, after days of negative performance influenced by speculation about a possible change in the Bank of Japan (BoJ)’s negative interest rate policy, especially with the approach of the monetary policy meeting. Meanwhile, in China, markets recorded light to moderate losses, with the Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite falling respectively 0.18% and 0.59%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong and the ASX 200 in Australia also had a challenging day, unlike the Kospi in South Korea, which stood out with a gain of 0.94%.
European markets are predominantly positive, continuing the recent upward trend and reaching new unprecedented levels during the session, especially in the stock markets of Frankfurt and Paris. Investors remain in a state of anticipation ahead of the imminent release of crucial economic indicators from the United States. Notably, Germany’s DAX index climbed to an unprecedented 18,027.56 points, while France’s CAC 40 also broke barriers, setting a new intraday high by reaching 8,209.98 points.
After recovering on Tuesday, stocks showed mixed performance on Wednesday. The Dow rose for the third consecutive day, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.19% and 0.54%, respectively, influenced by weakness in the technology sector. The lack of significant economic data kept trading activity moderate.
On the earnings front, Dollar General (NYSE:DG), Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS), Futu (NASDAQ:FUTU), Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ), GoHealth (NASDAQ:GOCO), Solo Brands (NYSE:DTC), among others, are scheduled to present financial reports before the market opens.
After the close, the numbers from Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), Blink Charging (NASDAQ:BLNK), Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA), PagerDuty (NYSE:PD), Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR), Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI), Kopin Corporation (NASDAQ:KOPN), Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM), Phreesia (NYSE:PHR), Vaxart (NASDAQ:VXRT), and more will be awaited.