US pre-open: Stocks seen muted as investors eye more Fed speak, GDP

US futures pointed to a muted open on Wall Street on Thursday as investors looked to the release of jobless claims, some GDP data and more Fed speak.

At 1155 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all down 0.1%.

TopTradr market analyst Tony Cross said: “US equity indices have recovered from the sell-off in the wake of Donald Trump’s failure to reform healthcare, with the market throwing its faith behind tax breaks, but the clock is certainly ticking here with lawmakers needing to agree on US budget plans by the end of next month. Valuations remain inflated and there’s plenty of profits to be taken, so any hint that either the tax reform won’t be passed or that the government will run into a deadlock over the budget has the potential again to lead a reversion here. It just seems that repeatedly these markets are bouncing straight back.

“We have the final US Q4 GDP reading due this afternoon so the expectation would have to be that this will reflect the upbeat sentiments from the Fed with a 2% growth figure being forecast. Any shortfall here could stand to leave the dollar looking exposed however – with the market not looking all that excited over the Fed’s claims of normality, any excuse to book profits heading into the quarter end could well be jumped upon."

The GDP reading is at 1330 BST, along with initial jobless claims. Investors will also be eyeing a speech from Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester at the Chicago Fed’s annual risk conference, while San Francisco Fed President John Williams will appear on a panel discussion at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York.

In addition, Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan will appear in a question and answer session at the US Chamber of Commerce.

On the corporate front, Cenovus Energy could be in focus after ConocoPhillips said late on Wednesday that it would sell the majority of its Canadian oil sands assets to the company.

Lululemon Athletica was also likely to be active as shares slumped on Wednesday after its fourth-quarter earnings missed analysts’ expectations and it forecast lower profit and sales in the first quarter.