US pre-open: Stocks seen flat as investors continue to mull tax reforms
US futures pointed to a muted open on Wall Street on Thursday as investors continued to mull over President Trump's tax reform plans, ahead of more earnings releases.
At 1130 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all flat.
In currency markets, the dollar was down 0.4% against the pound to 0.7751, flat versus the euro at 0.9167 and up 0.2% against the yen at 111.34.
On Wednesday, US stocks ended slightly lower as investors were left disappointed by the lack of specifics in Trump's tax reform announcement. As widely expected, the announcement included plans to cut corporate tax to 15% from 35% and reduce the top individual tax rate to 35% from 39.6%.
IG analyst Joshua Mahony pointed out that Trump's s tax reform announcement did little to lift the spirits on Wednesday, with markets clearly deciding to ‘buy the rumour and sell the fact’.
"European markets, much like their Asian counterparts appear to have followed the negative precedent set by the US, with many disappointed that yesterday’s tax announcement shed very little additional light apart from the information already leaked ahead of the announcement.
"There is certainly a degree of hesitancy given the difficulty Trump has had with the travel ban and healthcare reforms. Given a joint Congress statement that this announcement will provide a guidepost for the future tax overhaul, it is clear that rather than a definitive outcome, this is a set of policies upon which future reforms will be referenced."
On the corporate front, PayPal Holdings was higher in pre-market trade after its earnings late on Wednesday beat expectations and the company announced a $5bn stock-repurchase plan.
US-listed shares of German lender Deutsche Bank were lower in pre-market trade after it reported weaker-than-expected revenue for the first quarter.
Ford Motor, Dow Chemical, Comcast, American Airlines and Domino's Pizza were among the companies slated to report earnings before the opening bell.
After the close, results were due from Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks.
On the macroeconomic calendar, initial jobless claims are at 1330 BST, along with wholesale inventories and durable goods orders, while pending home sales are at 1500 BST.
In Europe, investors will be eyeing the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank at 1245 BST and the ensuing press conference at 1330 BST.