US pre-open: Stocks seen muted after Dow crosses 21,000 mark

US futures pointed to a muted open on Wall Street on Thursday after the Dow smashed through the 21,000 mark in the previous session, closing at a new record high of 21,115.

At 1150 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were down 0.1%. On Wednesday, stocks were boosted by rising expectations of a March rate hike by the Federal Reserve following hawkish comments from Fed officials, and US President Donald Trump’s address to Congress.

In a speech to the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said the Us economy seems to be moving to a more stable growth path and gradual interest-rate hikes are likely to be appropriate soon.

“We are closing in on full employment, inflation is moving gradually toward our target, foreign growth is on more solid footing, and risks to the outlook are as close to balanced as they have been in some time,” she said.

Oanda’s Craig Erlam said: “The language from the Fed has become far more hawkish over the last couple of weeks and yesterday’s comments from Lael Brainard – arguably the most dovish policy maker – was the icing on the cake. Not only is March now on the table, in many people’s eyes it’s the base case scenario which is a massive change from even a week ago. Regardless of whether the Fed opts to raise rates in two weeks or not, it’s quite clear now who is guiding who.

“In what has already been quite a busy week on the Fed calendar, we’re still yet to hear from Loretta Mester today – a non-voter this year – and Chair Janet Yellen, vice Chair Stanley Fischer, Jerome Powell and Charles Evans tomorrow –all of which are voters.”

On the data front, the only notable release will be the initial jobless claims at 1330 GMT.

In corporate news, share in Snap Inc are set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange after the messaging app company priced its initial public offering at $17 a share.

Elsewhere, Shake Shack could be in for some losses after the burger chain’s 2017 revenue outlook late on Wednesday missed expectations.

File sharing company Box Inc was also likely to be in focus after it said the current quarter would not meet analysts’ forecasts.

Kroger, Sears Holdings, Abercrombie & Fitch Co and Barnes & Noble are among the companies slated to report earnings ahead of the opening bell.