US pre-open: Stocks seen muted ahead of jobless claims
US stocks looked set for a muted open on Thursday as investors eyed jobless claims data and continued to mull the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve.
At 1010 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were down 0.1%.
Oanda market analyst Craig Erlam said: "The Fed minutes on Wednesday didn't really offer anything we didn't already know. Even those that leapt at the opportunity to buy the supposed ‘dovish pivot’ are aware that this isn't quite the case and the minutes really back that up. Not that they needed to as the Fed commentary that has followed has made that perfectly clear.
"The central bank did stress the need to slow the pace of rate increases as monetary policy tightened further which most expected would be the case anyway. Of course, that is ultimately dependent on the inflation data allowing for such a move and the July reading was certainly the first step towards that.
"It also referenced the risk of monetary policy being tightened more than necessary to restore price stability which could be read a couple of different ways. While it doesn't suggest it will over tighten intentionally, the Fed is clearly determined to get inflation back to target and ensure the public believes it will.
"The statement could therefore suggest it will act in a more aggressive manner than markets expect in order to deliver on that. Alternatively, it could indicate that the central bank is aware of the risks and may therefore ease off the break as soon as the opportunity arises in order to avoid tightening too much."
On the macroeconomic front, initial jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey for August are due at 1330 BST. Existing home sales figures for July are also scheduled for release, at 1500 BST.
Meanwhile, Kohl’s, Tapestry, Estee Lauder and Ross Stores are slated to report earnings, along with Applied Materials.