BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Jobless Claims, Housing Starts data, Import and Export prices, as well as Philadelphia-area Manufacturing activity, are the major economic announcements on Thursday.
Earnings also might get special attention. Walmart's fourth-quarter comp sales were up 8.6 percent. Total revenue increased 7.3 percent to $152.1 billion from $141.7 billion in the prior year. On a per-share basis, earnings were $4.75, and on an adjusted basis earnings were $5.48.
Asian shares closed mostly lower, while European shares are trading down.
Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly lower.
On the earnings front, retail giant Walmart (WMT) is among the companies scheduled to their quarterly results before the start of trading on Thursday.
As of 7.00 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 78.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 15.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 100.50 points.
The U.S. major indices finished broadly down on Wednesday. The Dow closed higher for the tenth time in the past twelve sessions, rising 90.27 points or 0.3 percent to 31,613.02. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq fell 82.00 points or 0.6 percent to 13,965.50 and the S&P 500 edged down 1.26 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 3,931.33.
On the economic front, the Commerce and Housing & Urban Development department's Housing Starts, and Permits for January will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 1.655 million, while it was 1.669 million.
The Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 768K, while it was up 793K in the prior week.
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Manufacturing Index for February will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 20.0, while it was up 26.5 in the prior month.
The Labor Department's Import and Export Prices for January will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 1.0 percent, while it was up 0.9 percent.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 171 bcf.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Petroleum Status Report for the week.
The two-year Floating Rate Note or FRN, two-year Treasury Note auction, and seven-year treasury note auction will be held at 11.00 am ET. 30-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.
Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be issued at 4.30 pm ET. Fed Money Supply for the week will be released at 4.30 pm ET. The M2 weekly supply was $3.0 billion.
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will participate in the conversation on 'Tackling Educational Inequity' before the GameChangers video event via Zoom webinar at 10.00 am ET.
Asian stocks ended broadly lower on Thursday. China's Shanghai Composite index ended up 20.27 points, or 0.55 percent, at 3,675.36. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell as much as 489.67 points, or 1.58 percent, to 30,595.27.
Japanese shares drifted lower. The Nikkei average slipped 56.10 points, or 0.19 percent, to 30,236.09, reversing earlier gains. The broader Topix index closed 1.0 percent lower at 1,941.91.
Australian markets ended on a flat note. New Zealand shares ended modestly lower. The benchmark NZX-50 index dropped 40.37 points, or 0.32 percent, to 12,633.60.
European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the German DAX is adding 4.25 points or 0.03 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is sliding 52.17 points or 0.78 percent.
The Swiss Market Index is down 9.55 points or 0.09 percent.
The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.21 percent.
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