Wall Street Set To Open Higher

On Thursday, the market might continue to react to the Fed announcement.
The weekly jobless claims, retail sales, and import and export prices also might attract interest.

Geo-political developments also might be of interest to investors.
Early trends on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately up.

Asian shares finished mostly higher, while European shares are trading positive.

As of 7.00 am ET, the Dow futures were up 82.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 13.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 62.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished higher on Wednesday. The Dow saw further upside going into the close, spiking 512.30 points or 1.4 percent on the day to 37,090.24. The Nasdaq shot up 200.57 points or 1.4 percent to 14,733.96 and the S&P 500 jumped 63.39 points or 1.4 percent to 4,707.09.

On the economic front, the Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 223K, while it was up 220K in the previous week.

The Retail Sales for November will be revealed at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.1 percent, while it was down 0.1 percent in the prior month.

The Import and Export Prices for November will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.7 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 scheduled at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 117 bcf.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was $7.737 trillion.

Asian stocks closed higher on Thursday. China’s Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.33 percent to 2,958.99. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.07 percent to 16,402.19.

Japanese shares fell notably. The Nikkei average shed 0.73 percent to close at 32,686.25. The broader Topix index closed 1.43 percent lower at 2,321.35.

Australian markets rallied. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.65 percent to 7,377.90. The broader All Ordinaries index settled 1.74 percent higher at 7,599.40.

European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is progressing 103.72 points or 1.38 percent. DAX of Germany is adding 100.68 points or 0.61 percent. FTSE 100 of England is progressing 163.90 points or 2.17 percent. The Swiss Market Index is up 139.64 points or 1.25 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 1.04 percent.

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