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On a quiet day of economic announcements, the Weekly Jobless Claims might get attention on Thursday. Amid earnings, Disney has scheduled its quarterly earnings after the bell.<\/p>\n
Asian shares finished mostly up, while European shares are also following the Asian trend. <\/p>\n
Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately down. <\/p>\n
As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were down 3.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 7.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 28.00 points.<\/p>\n
The U.S. major averages remained firmly positive at the close on Wednesday. The S&P 500 climbed 40.83 points or 0.8 percent to4,995.06 and the Dow rose 156.00 points or 0.4 percent to 38,677.36, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 147.65 points or 1.0 percent to 15,756.64.<\/p>\n
On the economic front, the Labor Department’s Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 222K, while it was up 224K in the prior week. <\/p>\n
The Commerce Department’s Wholesale Inventories (Preliminary) for December is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.4 percent, while it was down 0.2 percent in November. <\/p>\n
The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Natural Gas Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 197 bcf. <\/p>\n
The six-month Treasury Bill auction will be held at 11.00 am ET. The 30-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET. The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET.<\/p>\n
Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin to appear on Bloomberg TV at 11.30 am.<\/p>\n
Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday. Chinese shares ended a choppy session sharply higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rallied 1.3 percent to 2,865.90, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index settled 1.3 percent lower at 15,878.07.<\/p>\n
Japanese markets<\/span> closed at a fresh 34-year high. The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 2.1 percent to 36,863.28, logging its biggest daily rise in nearly three months, led by exporter issues. The broader Topix Index ended half a percent higher at 2,562.63.<\/p>\n Australian stocks ended modestly higher. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 Index rose 0.3 percent to 7,639.20, while the broader All Ordinaries Index closed up 0.3 percent at 7,875.20. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Business News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n