The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a slightly lower open on Thursday, with stocks likely to give back ground after moving mostly higher over the two previous sessions.
A slump by shares of Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) may weigh on the markets, as the chipmaker is tumbling by 4.4 percent in pre-market trading.
The steep drop by Micron comes after the company reported better than expected fiscal third quarter results but provided guidance that disappointed investors.
Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) are also seeing significant pre-market weakness after the retail pharmacy company reported fiscal third quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates and lowered its full-year profit outlook.
Overall trading activity is likely to remain somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of closely watched inflation data on Friday.
U.S. stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday after a somewhat sluggish session as investors made cautious moves while awaiting the release of the personal consumption expenditures price index report on Friday.
The major averages all closed on the positive side. Technology stocks outperformed, lifting the Nasdaq by 87.50 points or 0.5 percent, to 17,805.16. The Dow ended up by 15.64 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 39,127.80, while the S&P 500 settled at 5,477.60, gaining 8.60 points or 0.2 percent.
Bank stocks were in focus ahead of the central bank’s annual stress test. Shares of energy firms struggled a bit due to sluggish oil prices.
Amazon rallied about 4 percent, and the surge lifted the stock’s market cap past $2 trillion.
Apple Inc, Tesla Inc., Walmart, Home Depot, United Parcel Service and Boeing gained 1 to 4 percent.
Automatic Data Processing shares dropped more than 4 percent. Dell Technologies, Analog Devices, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley, Amgen, Cisco Systems, Qualcomm, Chevron, Advanced Micro Devices and Merck lost 1 to 3 percent.
On the economic front, a report released by the Commerce Department showed new home sales in the U.S. saw a substantial decrease in the month of May, plunging by 11.3 percent to an annual rate of 619,000 after jumping by 2.0 percent to a revised rate of 698,000 in April.
Economists had expected new home sales to rise to an annual rate of 640,000 from the 634,000 originally reported for the previous month.