Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a mixed open on Thursday, amid fresh uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will begin scaling back its bond-buying program as soon as next month, while investors eyed U.S. data to be released later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.07% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.15% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.28% fall.
Speculation over the course of U.S. monetary policy continued following dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman nominee Janet Yellen.
In a statement released late Wednesday, Yellen said the job market and economy are "performing far short of their potential" and there is "more work to do" on recovery.
Auto stocks were expected to be active, after Tesla Motors said three workers were injured at its assembly plant in Fremont, California, adding to a string of problems including fires in its Model S sedans and results that disappointed some investors.
On Wednesday, company co-founder Elon Musk said it would not recall its Model S. Tesla shares were still up 0.79% in pre-market trade.
Among earnings, late Wednesday, data-storage company NetApp said second-quarter adjusted earnings rose to 66 cents a share, more than the average analyst estimate of 63 cents a share, sending shares up 0.99% pre-market.
Cisco dove 10.81% in early trading after the maker of computer-networking equipment said profit excluding will be 45 cents to 47 cents a share in the fiscal second quarter, compared to analysts’ average projection for profit of 52 cents.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Agilent, Applied Materials and Nordstrom, scheduled to report quarterly results later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.44%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.51%, Germany's DAX advanced 0.69%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.52%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 0.82%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged 2.12%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was release official data on the trade balance, as well as the weekly report on initial jobless claims.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.07% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.15% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.28% fall.
Speculation over the course of U.S. monetary policy continued following dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman nominee Janet Yellen.
In a statement released late Wednesday, Yellen said the job market and economy are "performing far short of their potential" and there is "more work to do" on recovery.
Auto stocks were expected to be active, after Tesla Motors said three workers were injured at its assembly plant in Fremont, California, adding to a string of problems including fires in its Model S sedans and results that disappointed some investors.
On Wednesday, company co-founder Elon Musk said it would not recall its Model S. Tesla shares were still up 0.79% in pre-market trade.
Among earnings, late Wednesday, data-storage company NetApp said second-quarter adjusted earnings rose to 66 cents a share, more than the average analyst estimate of 63 cents a share, sending shares up 0.99% pre-market.
Cisco dove 10.81% in early trading after the maker of computer-networking equipment said profit excluding will be 45 cents to 47 cents a share in the fiscal second quarter, compared to analysts’ average projection for profit of 52 cents.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Agilent, Applied Materials and Nordstrom, scheduled to report quarterly results later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.44%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.51%, Germany's DAX advanced 0.69%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.52%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 0.82%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged 2.12%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was release official data on the trade balance, as well as the weekly report on initial jobless claims.