Weekly Jobless Claims and Producer Price Inflation might be the important economic announcements on Thursday.
Investors are mulling the Fed’s Open Markets Committee’s observation that the U.S. economy is entering a ‘mild recession’ by year’s end in the wake of the banking crisis.
As of 7.30 am ET, the Dow futures were gaining 13.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 6.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 41.00 points.
The U.S. major averages finished in negative territory on Wednesday. The Dow edged down 38.29 points or 0.1 percent to 33,646.50, the S&P 500 fell 16.99 points or 0.4 percent to 4,091.95 and the Nasdaq slid 102.54 points or 0.9 percent to 11,929.34.
On the economic front, the Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 233K, while it was up 228K in the prior week.
The Producer Price Index or PPI for March will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 0.0 percent, while it was down 0.1 percent in the previous month.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week is scheduled at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 23 bcf.
30-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be issued at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $8.63 trillion.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday. Chinese shares ended lower, with the Shanghai Composite index slipping 0.27 percent to 3,318.36. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index eased 0.17 percent to settle at 20,344.48.
Japanese shares rose modestly. The Nikkei average recovered from an early slide to close 0.26 percent higher at 28,156.97 while the broader Topix index finished marginally higher at 2,007.93.
Australian markets declined. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 0.27 percent to 7,324.10. The broader All Ordinaries index eased 0.24 percent to end at 7,520.70.
European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is progressing 78.28 points or 1.06 percent. DAX of Germany is adding 11.02 points or 0.07 percent. FTSE 100 of England is progressing 4.48 points or 0.06 percent. The Swiss Market Index is up 14.38 points or 0.13 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.44 percent.
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