Wall Street Might Open Moderately Up

Report on weekly jobless claims, Factory Orders for September and International Trade in Goods and Services might get special attention on Thursday.

Investors are keeping an eye on reviving worries over softer AI demand and margins.

In the Asian trading session, the dollar was under pressure, while gold ticked lower. Oil prices rose as Russia-Ukraine tensions escalated.

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

As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were gaining 49.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 6.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 2.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished Wednesday in positive territory. The Dow jumped 408.44 points or 0.9 percent to 47,882.90, the Nasdaq rose 40.42 points or 0.2 percent to 23,454.09 and the S&P 500 climbed 20.35 points or 0.3 percent to 6,849.72.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department’s International Trade in Goods and Services for October will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $66.9 billion, while it was down 59.6 billion.

The Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 225K, while the initial claims were up 216K in the prior week.

The Commerce Department’s delayed Factory Orders for September is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for increase of 0.2 percent, while it was up 1.4 percent in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week will be released at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 11 bcf.

Three-year, 10-year Treasury Note auction as well as 30-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 11.00 am ET.

Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be revealed at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was up $6.552 trillion.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will speak virtually on ‘Bank Supervision and Regulation’ before the Florida Bankers Association Leadership Luncheon at 12.00 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday.

China’s Shanghai Composite index finished marginally lower at 3,875.79. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.68 percent to 25,935.90.

Japanese markets surged. The Nikkei average jumped 2.33 percent to 51,028.42. The broader Topix index settled 1.92 percent higher at 3,398.21.

Australian markets eked out modest gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.27 percent to 8,618.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 0.14 percent at 8,906.70.

European shares are trading higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is gaining 30.76 points or 0.38 percent. The German DAX is adding 177.92 points or 0.75 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is progressing 11.66 points or 0.12 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is climbing 55.49 points or 0.43 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 21.90 points or 0.38 percent.

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