US pre-open: Futures point to losses amid escalating tensions in the Middle East
Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Thursday amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and a looming September payrolls report.
As of 1215 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.29%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.20% and 0.24% lower, respectively.
The Dow closed 39.55 points higher on Wednesday in what was a rollercoaster session for major indices.
Escalating tensions in the Middle East continued to remain in focus early on Thursday after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel after the latter launched a ground invasion into neighbouring Lebanon.
Both market participants and the Federal Reserve were also looking ahead to new jobs data, with the release of September's all-important payrolls report set for Friday morning.
On the macro front for Thursday, Challenger job cuts data for September will be released at 1230 BST, while weekly jobless claims numbers will follow at 1330 BST, S&P Global's September composite and services PMIs were slated for publication at 1445 BST, and August factory orders figures and the ISM's services PMI will wrap things up at 1500 BST.
Several Federal Reserve bankers were also slated to speak throughout the day, including Jeffrey Schmid, Raphael Bostic and Neel Kashkari
In the corporate space, Levi Strauss shares lost roughly 10% after the jeans maker posted mixed Q3 results and said it was mulling over a sale of its loss-making Dockers unit.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com