After ending yesterday’s choppy trading session little changed, stocks may continue to turn in a lackluster performance in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.
Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as they digest the latest U.S. economic data and look ahead to a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later this afternoon.
The Labor Department released a report this morning showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended November 9th.
The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 217,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 221,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 223,000.
The unexpected decline pulled jobless claims down to their lowest level since hitting 216,000 in the week ended May 18th.
After yesterday’s consumer price inflation data matched expectations, the Labor Department also released a separate report showing producer prices in the U.S. also increased in line with economist estimates in the month of October.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand rose by 0.2 percent in October following a revised 0.1 percent uptick in September.
Economists had expected producer prices to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of growth by producer prices accelerated to 2.4 percent in October from an upwardly revised 1.9 percent in September.
The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to accelerate to 2.3 percent from the 1.8 percent originally reported for the previous month.
The slightly faster than expected annual price growth combined with the jobless claims data showing continued strength in the labor market may add to recent uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.
While the Fed is still widely expected to lower interest rates by a quarter point next month, there is some concern sticky inflation will lead the central bank to slow the pace of its rate cuts in early 2025.
Traders may look for Powell to provide clarity about the outlook for rates when he speaks before an event hosted by the Dallas Regional Chamber, World Affairs Council of DFW and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas at 3 pm ET.
Stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the pullback seen during Tuesday’s session.
The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 50.66 points or 0.3 percent to 19,230.74, the S&P 500 crept up 1.39 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,985.38 and the Dow inched up 47.21 points or 0.1 percent to 43,958.19.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.5 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 1.7 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dove by 2.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 1.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.5 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.68 to $69.11 a barrel after rising $0.31 to $68.43 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after tumbling $19.80 to $2,586.50 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are plunging $29.30 to $2,557.20 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 156.09 yen versus the 155.46 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0525 compared to yesterday’s $1.0564.
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