US pre-open: Futures point to losses as ceasefire talks stall

Wall Street futures were pointing to losses ahead of the bell on Thursday as investors monitored news that ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine had stalled and awaited key inflation data scheduled for release later in the session.

As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 1.14%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 2.96% and 2.56% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 653.61 points higher on Wednesday as commodity prices eased back during the session.

However, Thursday's pre-market moves came as oil prices advanced yet again as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to create volatility in markets. Ahead of the bell, West Texas Crude was up 4.44% at $113.53 after having dropped more than 12% in its worst day since November a day earlier, while international benchmark Brent crude oil was up 5.11% at $116.82 after tumbling 13% on Wednesday for its biggest one-day drop since April 2020.

Also in focus, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said no progress had been made in talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on achieving a 24-hour ceasefire, although talks in Turkey were said to be ongoing.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "Traders are still very much in a cautionary mode as it is not clear to them that the current change in momentum or shift in the direction of the oil trend will last. The current bounce in the equity markets may likely turn out to be nothing but a dead cat bounce as the actual fundamentals which drove the global stock markets to their knees haven't changed. For instance, Russia is still increasing the intensity of its attack on Ukraine, and there are no signs of Russia removing its military from the Ukrainian land.

"The sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and its allies are still there, and once again, there is no clarity on when the current sanctions will be lifted off on Russia. Stagflation is still an issue, keeping traders up at night as economic data out of Europe, Asia, and the US has started to show weakness while inflation remains very much anchored in its place."

On the macro front, the session's primary focus will be last month's inflation figures, scheduled for publication at 1330 GMT, alongside jobless claims data for the week ended 5 March, while the Federal Reserve's quarterly financial accounts were slated for release at 1700 GMT and the White House's monthly budget statement will be out at 1900 GMT.

In the corporate space, Amazon shares were in focus after the online retail behemoth announced a 20-for-1 stock split and a $10.0bn buyback, while CrowdStrike rallied double digits after posting earnings overnight.

No major earnings were slated for release on Thursday.