Investing.com - U.S. futures were slightly down on Thursday as investors waited for more details on Fed policy at the central bank's three-day gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The annual meeting comes just a day after minutes from the last policy meeting showed a three-way split on the Fed's decision to cut the Fed funds rate target range by 25 basis points, its first rate cut in a decade.
Both Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan are expected to comment on the U.S. economy later in the session.
Nasdaq 100 futures fell 21 points or 0.3% by 6:40 AM ET (10:40 GMT), while Dow futures declined 35 points or 0.1% and S&P 500 Futures inched down 4 points or 0.2%.
Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) stock surged 11.5% in premarket data after the retailer posted strong second-quarter profit despite missing forecasts on sales. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.90 on revenue of $3.87 billion, but cut its full-year guidance for net sales and earnings.
Nordstrom joined a bundle of retailers to have reported upbeat results in the quarter, something that has highlighted the current strength of domestic consumption.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) dipped 0.4% after it said it shut down 216 social media pages, groups and accounts in Myanmar, to stop efforts to "manipulate or corrupt public debate." Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was down 0.7%, while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) inched down 0.3% and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) lost 0.6%.
On the data front, weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT), while the manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) and services PMI for August come out at 9:45 AM ET (13:45 GMT). PMIs out of Japan and Europe earlier both suggested that the global slump in manufacturing shows no sign of ending any time soon.
In earnings news, Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), Gap (NYSE:GPS), and Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) are among those expected to report on Thursday.
In commodities, crude oil gained 0.7% to $56.05 a barrel. Gold futures lost 0.6% to $1,506.35 a troy ounce, while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, inched up 0.1% to 98.227.