Wall Street Poised To Open In Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - Initial cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower on Thursday. The Jobless Claims and the Business Uncertainty for December will be the major announcements today.

Asian shares finished mostly higher, while European shares are trading broadly up. Oil and gold clung to modest gains in Asian trade.

As of 7.40 am ET, the Dow futures were down 166.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 22.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 90.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished Thursday higher. The Dow advanced 390.08 points or 0.9 percent to 43,297.03, the Nasdaq surged 266.24 points or 1.4 percent to 20,031.13 and the S&P 500 jumped 65.97 points or 1.1 percent to 6,040.04.

On the economic front, Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 223K, while it was up 220K in the prior week.

Survey of Business Uncertainty for December will be released at 11.00 am ET. In the prior month, the sales growth was 3.89 percent, while the employment growth was 4.24 percent.

Seven-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

The Federal Money Supply for November is scheduled at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior month, the M2 Level was $21,311.2 billion.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be released at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was at $6.889 trillion.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday. Chinese stocks gained slightly up. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index ended 0.14 percent higher at 3,398.08

Markets in Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong were closed for the Boxing Day holiday. Indonesian markets were closed for Christmas.

Japanese markets rallied. The Nikkei average jumped 1.12 percent to 39,568.06 while the broader Topix index settled 1.20 percent higher at 2,766.78.

European shares are trading lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is adding 10.37 points or 0.14 percent. The German DAX is sliding 35.98 points or 0.18 percent. The Swiss Market Index is adding 103.36 points or 0.91 percent.