The Fed announcements, the Weekly Jobless Claims, the U.S. Trade Deficit report as well as labor productivity are the highlights on Thursday.
Earnings reports also will get the attention of investors.
Early cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower.
As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were sliding 112.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 13.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were declining 5.00 points.
The U.S. major averages finished Wednesday’s session lower. The Dow slid 270.29 points or 0.8 percent to 33,414.24, the Nasdaq fell 55.18 points or 0.5 percent to 12,025.33 and the S&P 500 dropped 28.83 points or 0.7 percent to 4,090.75.
On the economic front, the Commerce Department’s International Trade in Goods and Services for March will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $63.7 billion, compared to a deficit of $70.5 billion.
The Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 238K, while it was up 230K in the previous week.
The Labor Department’s Productivity and Costs for the first quarter will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 0.0 percent, while it was 1.7 percent in the prior quarter.
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 up 79 bcf.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be published at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $8.563 trillion.
Asian stocks ended slightly up on Thursday. Chinese shares rose notably. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.82 percent to 3,350.46. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied 1.27 percent to 19,948.73.
Japanese markets were closed on account of the Greenery Day holiday.
Australian markets ended little changed. Australia’s services activity grew the most in a year in April.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P NZX-50 index rose 0.51 percent to 11,968.55.
European shares are trading lower. CAC 40 of France is down 68.58 points or 0.93 percent. DAX of Germany is declining 118.66 points or 0.75 percent. FTSE 100 of England is falling 64.85 points or 0.83 percent. The Swiss Market Index is down 66.21 points or 0.58 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.83 percent.
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