After moving mostly higher over the course of the previous session, stocks are likely to move back to the downside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by 0.4 percent.
Concerns about the impact of sharply higher energy prices are likely to weigh on Wall Street, as the price of crude oil resumed its surge after ending yesterday’s trading only modestly higher.
The jump in crude oil prices comes amid ongoing supply disruption worries due to the expanding conflict in the Middle East.
Iran has claimed it struck a U.S. oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, raising fears of a wider conflict after the Islamic republic threatened to halt shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also signaled a possible longer time frame for the conflict than has previously been floated by the Trump administration, saying the war could last up to eight weeks but might be over sooner.
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
Economists currently expect employment to rise by 60,000 jobs in February after jumping by 130,000 jobs in January, while the unemployment rate is expected to inch up to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent.
A day ahead of the release of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits came in flat in the week ended February 28th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims came in at 213,000, unchanged from the previous week’s revised level.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 212,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday, partly offsetting the weakness seen in the previous session. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge.
The major averages ended the day off their highs of the session but still firmly positive. The Nasdaq jumped 290.79 points or 1.3 percent to 22,807.48, the S&P 500 advanced 52.87 points or 0.8 percent to 6,869.50 and the Dow climbed 238.14 points or 0.5 percent to 48,739.41.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index shot up by 1.9 percent, while South Korea’s Kopsi soared by 9.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index are all down by 0.3 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are surging $2.30 to $76.96 a barrel after edging up $0.10 to $74.66 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after rising $11 to $5,134.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $4.60 to $5,139.30 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.72 yen versus the 157.03 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1595 compared to yesterday’s $1.1633.
Business News
U.S. Stocks May Give Back Ground As Oil Resumes Surge
2026-03-05 13:57:26
