After Powell’s comment that recession is certainly a possibility, investors are keen to hear the second day of Congressional testimony on Thursday. Weekly Jobless Claims as well as other economic announcements will get special attention.
A recent study on the new variants of coronavirus suggests that subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 could escape antibody responses from vaccination as well as previous infections. Further information on this is awaited.
Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive, bouncing up from a lower closure on Wednesday.
As of 7.45 am ET, the Dow futures were up 174.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 29.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 123.75 points.
The U.S. major averages finished Wednesday’s session in negative territory. The Dow dipped 47.12 points or 0.2 percent to 30,483.13, the Nasdaq slipped 16.22 points or 0.2 percent to 11,053.08 and the S&P 500 edged down 4.90 points or 0.1 percent to 3,759.89.
On the economic front, the Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 225K, while it was up 229K in the prior week.
The Commerce Department’s Current Account for the first quarter will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $277.0 billion, while the deficit in the prior quarter was $217.9 billion.
The flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index or PMI for June is scheduled at 9.45 am ET. The consensus for the manufacturing index is 56.3 and the Services Index is 53.6.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week is expected at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 92 bcf. The Petroleum Status Report for the week will be announced at 11.0 am ET. In the prior week, the Crude Oil Inventories were 2.0 million barrels and the Gasoline Inventories were down 0.7 million barrels.
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index for June will be published at 11.00 am ET. In the prior month, the level was at 23.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be published at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was at $8.932 trillion.
Five-year and Seven-year Treasury Note Auctions will be held at 11.00 am ET. Five-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday. Chinese shares finished higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.62 percent to 3,320.15 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied 1.26 percent to 21,273.87.
Japanese shares closed on a flat note. The Nikkei average finished marginally higher at 26,171.25 while the broader Topix index closed with a negative bias at 1,851.74.
Australian markets eked out modest gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.31 percent to 6,528.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.14 percent higher at 6,691.40.
European shares are trading mostly higher. CAC 40 of France is adding 28.34 points or 0.48 percent. DAX of Germany is declining 56.35 points or 0.42 percent. FTSE 100 of England is progressing 11.87 points or 0.17 percent. Swiss Market Index is declining 25.46 points or 0.24 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.29 percent.
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