BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Investors are focusing on the major economic data to be published on Thursday, especially the Jobless Claims, Personal Income and Outlays and Farm Prices for September.
Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading lower.
Initial cues from the U.S. Futures point Wall Street to open in a negative territory.
Earnings news might influence investor-sentiments on Thursday, with Apple, Facebook, Starbucks and Lyft are among the corporates that release their quarterly results after the close of trading.
As of 8.10 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 66 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 8.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were falling 12.25 points.
The U.S. remained positive at close on Wednesday. The Dow climbed 115.27 points or 0.4 percent to 27,186.69, the Nasdaq rose 27.12 points or 0.3 percent to 8,303.98 and the S&P 500 ended the day up 9.88 points or 0.3 percent at 3,046.77.
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 215K while it was 212K in the previous week.
The Commerce Department's Personal Income and Outlays for September will be published 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.
The Labor Department's Employment Cost Index for the third quarter will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a growth of 0.7 percent, while it grew 0.6 percent in the previous quarter.
Market New International's Chicago PMI for October will be issued at 9.45 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 48.3, compared to 47.1 in the prior month.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the change was up 87 bcf.
The Agriculture Department's Farm Prices for September will be revealed at 3.00 pm 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 $15.2 billion.
Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. Chinese shares fell after the release of weak economic data. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index dropped 10.26 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,929.06 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.9 percent to end at 26,906.72.
China's factory activity slipped to an eight month-low in October, official data showed. The manufacturing PMI fell to 49.3 from 49.8 a month ago.
Japanese shares eked out modest gains. The Nikkei average rose 83.92 points, or 0.37 percent, to 22,927.04 while the broader Topix index closed marginally higher at 1,667.01.
Australian markets fell modestly. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 26.10 points, or 0.39 percent, to 6,663.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 21.80 points, or 0.32 percent, at 6,772.90.
European shares are trading lower. CAC 40 of France is down 23.42 points or 0.41 percent. DAX of Germany is falling 29.70 points or 0.23 percent. FTSE 100 of England is losing 76.06 points or 1.04 percent. Swiss Market Index is declining 22.23 points or 0.22 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.21 percent.
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