Preliminary indicators from the U.S. Futures Index suggest a potential decline for Wall Street upon Thursday's opening. Key economic announcements to watch today include the Jobless Claims and December’s Business Uncertainty reports.
While Asian markets concluded mostly on a positive note, European shares are generally trending upwards. Meanwhile, oil and gold maintained modest gains during Asian trading hours.
As of 7:40 a.m. ET, Dow futures had fallen by 166 points, S&P 500 futures were down by 22.25 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures had dropped 90.50 points.
U.S. major indices posted gains on Thursday. The Dow rose by 390.08 points, finishing at 43,297.03 with a 0.9% increase. The Nasdaq soared 266.24 points, marking a 1.4% rise to 20,031.13, and the S&P 500 climbed 65.97 points, reflecting a 1.1% gain to 6,040.04.
On the economic calendar, the Jobless Claims data for the week is expected at 8:30 a.m. ET, with a consensus expectation of a rise to 223,000 from the previous 220,000. Additionally, the Survey of Business Uncertainty for December will be published at 11 a.m. ET. Last month, sales growth was reported at 3.89%, while employment growth was at 4.24%.
Other notable events include the auction of the seven-year Treasury Note at 1:00 p.m. ET and the Federal Money Supply report for November, also scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET, where the M2 Level previously stood at $21,311.2 billion. The Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet for the week will be disclosed at 4:30 p.m. ET, having been valued at $6.889 trillion the prior week.
Asian stocks displayed mixed outcomes Thursday. Chinese equities experienced modest gains, as demonstrated by the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index’s 0.14% uptick to close at 3,398.08.
Markets in Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong observed the Boxing Day holiday closure, as did Indonesian markets in observance of Christmas.
Japanese markets marked considerable gains, with the Nikkei Average advancing 1.12% to 39,568.06 and the more inclusive Topix Index recording a 1.20% gain, closing at 2,766.78.
In Europe, the stock markets are seeing mixed performances. Notably, France’s CAC 40 Index increased by 10.37 points or 0.14%. In contrast, Germany's DAX Index decreased by 35.98 points or 0.18%, while the Swiss Market Index gained 103.36 points or 0.91%.
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