BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The investors are closely monitoring the trouble in China's economy and the developments in U.K. as Prime Minister Theresa May is on a third try to get support for no-deal Brexit.
Boeing is facing a real crisis after the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the decided to ground global fleet of 737 Max aircraft.
Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately lower.
Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading positive.
As of 7.45 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 42 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 3.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were down 1.00 points.
The U.S. major averages all moved to the upside on Wednesday. The Dow rose 148.23 points or 0.6 percent to 25,702.89, the Nasdaq advanced 52.37 points or 0.7 percent to 7,643.41 and the S&P 500 climbed 19.40 points or 0.7 percent to 2,810.92.
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 225K while it was 223K in the previous week.
The Labor Departments Import and Export Prices for February will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.4 percent, while it declined 0.5 percent in the prior month.
The New Home Sales report for January will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for 612K, down from 621K in December 2018.
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 down 149 bcf.
Ten-year Treasury inflation-indexed securities or TIPS auction will be held at 11.00 am ET.
The Fed Balance Sheet for the week is expected at 4.30 pm ET. In the previous week, the level was $3.969 trillion.
The Fed Money Supply for week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. The M2 weekly change was $16.5 billion.
Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. Chinese data signaled further weakness and Chinese shares fell. Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.2 percent to 2,990.68 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished 0.15 percent higher at 28,851.39.
China's industrial output grew an annual 5.3 percent in the first two months of 2019, a government report showed. This marked the slowest pace of growth in 17 years and fell short of expectations for a score of 5.5 percent.
Japanese shares ended largely unchanged. The Nikkei average gave up early gains to end marginally lower at 21,287.02. The broader Topix index slid 0.24 percent to 1,588.29.
Australian markets eked out modest gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 18.40 points or 0.30 percent to 6,179.60 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 20.80 points or 0.33 percent at 6,266.80.
European shares are trading broadly higher. CAC 40 of France is up 28.01 points or 0.53 percent. DAX of Germany is gaining 3.20 points or 0.03 percent. FTSE 100 of England is adding 37.62 points or 0.53 percent. Swiss Market Index is up 42.69 points or 0.46 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.37 percent.
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