Investing.com – Wall Street futures tallied cautious gains on Thursday as investors looked ahead to a slew of economic reports and more appearances from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials, while eyes were on oil’s struggle with the $50 per barrel psychological level and concern over the European financial sector.
The blue-chip Dow futures gained 31 points, or 0.17%, by 11:01AM GMT, or 7:01AM ET, the S&P 500 futures rose 2 points, or 0.11%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 7 points, or 0.16%.
Financial markets’ expectations for an imminent Fed rate hike had edged down slightly with Thursday’s session being a full day for some of the key data points that could influence the U.S. central bank’s intentions for moving ahead with monetary policy tightening.
Odds of a Fed rate hike for June stood at nearly 32% Thursday morning, according to futures markets. July odds were at about 60%.
In this regards, traders will particularly focus on weekly jobless claims figures and durable goods orders at 12:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET; though they will also digest pending home sales at 14:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET.
On Thursday, St. Louis Fed president James Bullard warned that labor market conditions were tight and could thus put upward pressure on inflation. The remarks were largely in line with speech given on Monday.
Markets will also pay close attention as Fed governor Jerome Powell speaks on the economy and monetary policy at 16:00GMT, or 12:00PM ET, in Washington DC.
Though many Fed officials had spoken since the publication of the minutes from the last policy decision meeting, the core group of governors had yet to weigh in on monetary policy or the economic outlook. For example, governor Daniel Tarullo focused on the regulation of insurance companies. Vice chair Stanley Fischer also avoided commenting on monetary policy in his latest speech, while
In that light, markets will likely be on edge ahead of Fed chief Janet Yellen’s first appearance on Friday. She could use the speech to reinforce expectations that the central bank might raise interest rates as early as next month, or July.
Meanwhile, oil traded higher on Thursday with Brent crude passing $50 for the first time in seven months as global supply disruptions and falling stockpiles in the U.S. boosted sentiment.
However, West Texas lagged behind and was unable to break through the psychological barrier.
Crude oil futures for July delivery gained 0.61% to $49.86 at 11:03AM GMT, or 7:03AM ET, while Brent oil traded up 0.82% to $50.15.
In company news, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) was in focus as the stock market regulator SEC investigated the e-commerce giant’s accounting practices. The announcement sent the shares tumbling 7% in Wednesday’s session.
Banks stateside could also be under pressure after European lenders were hit Thursday’s session from Spanish Banco Popular (MC:POP)’s announcement of a €2.5 billion ($2.8 billion) stock issue in order to strengthen its balance sheet.
Abercrombie & Fitch, Dollar General and Dollar Tree were among companies scheduled to report earnings before the bell, while GameStop or Splunk were on top to release after the market close.