US pre-open: Stocks set for fresh highs
Stocks on Wall Street looked set for fresh records on Thursday as investors looked ahead to a slew of corporate and macroeconomic releases.
At 1110 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq futures were up 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures were up 0.1%.
Meanwhile, oil prices were a touch higher, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.3% at $52.89 a barrel and Brent crude 0.5% firmer at $55.36.
On Wednesday, the Dow powered through the 20,000 mark for the first time, closing up 0.8% at 20,068.51, buoyed by some well-received corporate news and optimism over Donald Trump’s policies.
Remo Fritschi, institutional sales manager at ADS Securities, said: “So after two months of anticipation, the Dow broke through the psychological 20,000 level during yesterday’s trade. Upbeat earnings news continues to drive sentiment here word that Boeing’s 787 project was now profitable helping lift the mood, although a weaker dollar index will also be helping sentiment a touch - yet again we’ve seen territory below 100 tested, making USD denominated assets look just a little bit cheaper to overseas investors. Futures prices are suggesting that the rally will continue into Thursday’s session although the market will be closely following the likes of Dow Chemicals and Ford to see if the upbeat story for industrials can be maintained in the near term.
“Trade balance data and weekly jobless claims are the stand outs in terms of economic data today, although in all likelihood, it’s going to be the underlying sentiment that dictates where we go next. Supportive earnings news may help inflate valuations a little more in the short term, but there’s an awful lot of profit on the table that can be booked from here.”
In corporate news, Johnson & Johnson advanced after it agreed to buy Switzerland’s Actelion for $30bn.
Ebay surged in pre-market trade after it posted solid earnings, while telecommunications group AT&T was also in the black after well-received fourth-quarter numbers.
On the downside, chip maker Qualcomm slipped on the back of a weak second-quarter outlook.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Comcast, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ford Motor, Biogen and Caterpillar were among the companies slated to report. Google parent Alphabet, Intel, Starbucks, and Microsoft were due to report after the close.
On the data front, initial jobless claims, wholesale inventories and trade balance figures are at 1330 GMT. The Chicago Fed national activity index is at 1445 GMT, along with Markit’s services purchasing managers’ index, while new home sales are at 1500 GMT.