BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Jobless Claims will be the major focus on Thursday apart from the corporate reports.
Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly higher at opening.
Asian shares finished mostly higher, while European shares are trading widely positive.
As of 7.55 am ET, the Dow futures were slipping 33 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 3.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 36.00 points.
U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday. The Dow surged up 434.90 points or 1.8 percent to 25,014.86, the Nasdaq soared 154.79 points or 2.2 percent to 7,183.08 and the S&P 500 jumped 41.05 points or 1.6 percent to 2,681.05. On the economic front, the Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The economists are looking for consensus of 220K while it was 199K in the previous week.
Personal Income and Outlays for December will be published at 0.4 percent, up from 0.2 percent in the prior month.
The Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Natural Gas Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the change was minus 163 bcf.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is expected at 4.30 pm ET. In the previous week, the level was $4.047 trillion.
The Fed Money Supply for week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. The M2 weekly change was $15.2 billion.
In the corporate sector, General Electric Co. reported a turnaround to profit in the fourth quarter. Consolidated revenues rose 5 percent from last year. General Electric confirmed it reached a $1.5 billion settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its prior financial reporting for the WMC unit of GE Capital that financed subprime mortgages in advance of the 2009 recession.
GE reported that consolidated net earnings attributable to common shareowners for the fourth-quarter was $574 million or $0.07 per share, compared to a loss of $11.00 billion or $1.27 per share in the prior year. Earnings from continuing operations attributable to common shareowners was $666 million or $0.08 per share, compared to a loss of $11.18 billion or $1.29 per share in the previous year.
Adjusted earnings per share for the latest-quarter were $0.17. Consolidated revenues rose 5 percent to $33.28 billion from $31.60 billion last year. Analysts expected revenue of $32.59 billion for the quarter.
Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected. Chinese shares ended higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 9 points or 0.4 percent to 2,584.57, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up 1.1 percent to 27,942.47.
Japanese shares rose sharply. The Nikkei 225 Index rallied 216.95 points or 1.1 percent to finish at 20,773.49, while the broader Topix closed 1.1 percent higher at 1,567.49, the highest closing level since mid-December.
Australian markets fell slightly despite positive cues from offshore markets. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 22 points or 0.4 percent to 5,864.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index edged down 13.90 points or 0.2 percent to 5,937.30.
European shares are trading broadly higher. CAC 40 of France is gaining 5.75 points or 0.14 percent. DAX of Germany is down 17.95 points or 0.16 percent. FTSE 100 of England is adding 42.58 points or 0.62 percent. Swiss Market Index is up 4.74 points or 0.05 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.33 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
