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The Producer Price data and Weekly Jobless Claims might be the major highlights on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Tariff worries are continuing after Canada and the EU retaliated against U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.<\/p>\n
In the Asian trading session, gold moved higher, while oil prices eased. <\/p>\n
Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower. <\/p>\n
As of 8.10 am ET, the Dow futures were down 120 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 22.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were falling 114.50 points.<\/p>\n
The U.S. major averages finished higher. The Nasdaq finished 212.35 points or 1.2 percent higher to 17,648.45. The S&P 500 also climbed 27.23 points or 0.5 percent to 5,599.30, although the narrower Dow bucked the uptrend and dipped 82.55 points or 0.2 percent to 41,350.93.<\/p>\n
On the economic front, the Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 230K, while it was 221K in the prior week. <\/p>\n
The PPI-Final Demand for February will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.4 percent in the prior month. <\/p>\n
The Quarterly Services Survey for the fourth quarter will be published at 10.00 am ET. In the prior quarter, the selected services revenue was up 1.1 percent. <\/p>\n
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 80 bcf. <\/p>\n
Ten-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS auction will be held at 11.00 am ET.<\/p>\n
Twenty-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 11.00 am ET. 30-year Treasury Bond auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET. <\/p>\n
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is expected at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was at $6.757 trillion.<\/p>\n
Asian stocks ended lower on Thursday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.4 percent to 3,358.73. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 percent to 23,462.65.<\/p>\n
Japanese markets<\/span> ended little changed. The Nikkei 225 Index finished marginally lower at 36,790.03, while the broader Topix Index settled 0.1 percent higher at 2,698.36.<\/p>\n Australian markets ended lower. The benchmark S&P\/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.5 percent to 7,749.10. The broader All Ordinaries Index settled 0.5 percent lower at 7,966.60. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Business News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n