Futures Suggests Lower Open For Wall Street

Ahead of the long Christmas weekend, the Weekly Jobless Claims, GDP, as well as Corporate Profits, might be the main focus on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s first visit to the U.S. after the Russian invasion is getting much attention. Russia warned that the supply of U.S. Patriot systems to Ukraine will prolong Ukraine’s people’s suffering.

As of 7.00 am ET, the Dow futures were down 45.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 4.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 9.50 points.

The U.S. major averages gained at the closing on Wednesday. The Dow surged 526.74 points or 1.6 percent to 33,376.48, the Nasdaq jumped 162.26 points or 1.5 percent to 10,709.37 and the S&P 500 shot up 56.82 points or 1.5 percent to 3,878.44.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department’s GDP for the third quarter will be announced at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 2.9 percent, while it was up 2.9 percent in the prior quarter.

The Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 225K, while it was up 211K in the prior week.

Chicago Fed National Activity Index for November will be released at 8.30 am ET. In October, the Index was down 0.05.

The Corporate Profit for the third quarter is expected at 8.30 am ET. In the prior quarter, the profits were up increased 1.3 percent.

The Conference Board’s Leading Indicators for November will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.5 percent, while it was down 0.8 percent in the previous month.

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 down 50 bcf.

Two-year Floating Rate Note or FRN, Five-year Treasury Note auction and Seven-year Treasury Note auction 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.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is expected at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $8.583 trillion.

Asian stocks rose broadly on Thursday. China’s Shanghai Composite index closed 0.46 percent lower at 3,054.43. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied 2.71 percent to 19,679.22.

Japanese shares eked out modest gains. The Nikkei average rose 0.46 percent to 26,507.87 while the broader Topix index ended 0.78 percent higher at 1,908.17.

Australian stocks advanced. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.53 percent to close at 7,152.50 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.58 percent higher at 7,335.20.

European shares are trading broadly lower. CAC 40 of France is down 3.50 points or 0.05 percent. DAX of Germany is declining 22.44 points or 0.16 percent. FTSE 100 of England is progressing 30.24 points or 0.41 percent. Swiss Market Index is down 1.37 points or 0.01 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.12 percent.

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