Investing.com - Wall Street futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday, as a recent rally that pushed the Dow and S&P back towards record highs ran out of steam as concerns over the global economy resurfaced.
The blue-chip Dow futures fell 42 points, or 0.23%, by 10:54AM GMT, or 6:54AM ET, the S&P 500 futures lost 7 points or 0.32%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 13 points, or 0.29%.
With the blackout period for Federal Reserve (Fed) officials in full effect ahead of the June 14-15 monetary policy meeting, eyes focused on European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi who once again warned on Thursday that monetary policy could not act alone and insisted that governments needed to do more to support the euro zone economy.
In a dire speech delivered in the Brussels Economic Forum, Draghi promised that the ECB would not undershoot its inflation objection for longer than is avoidable, but urged others to ensure that “output is returned to potential before subpar growth causes lasting damage.”
The warning came on the back of gloomy data from Japan where core machinery orders tumbled 11%, suggesting that weak business investment will probably continue to persist throughout 2016.
In Germany, exports stagnated in April, though the read was better than the forecast for a 0.6% decline.
The motor of euro zone economy also showed weak domestic demand as imports unexpectedly fell.
These references arrived on Wednesday, just as a Wall Street Journal report after the prior session’s close revealed that the billionaire investor George Soros had returned to trading with large, bearish investments.
The financial newspaper quoted people close to the matter as stating that Soros was concerned about the outlook for the global economy and was looking to profit from what he expected to be economic troubles.
Worth noting, the report followed a filing back in May that had revealed Soros Fund Management had doubled-down on its “put” options against the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE:NYSE:SPY) exchange-traded fund (ETF) which tracks the benchmark U.S. stock index.
Put options, generally considered bearish bets, give the holder the right to sell shares at a specific price by a certain date.
In any case, the economic calendar on Thursday was light, with the weekly jobless claims set to be released at 12:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET, followed by April wholesale inventories at 14:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET.
Meanwhile, oil prices turned around in mid-day European trade on Wednesday as investors took profits and crude was pressured by a stronger dollar.
U.S. crude futures lost 0.76% to $50.84 by 10:57AM GMT, or 6:57AM ET, while Brent oil traded down 0.93% to $52.02.
In company news, Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc (NYSE:RH) tumbled 20% in the pre-market after quarterly earnings disappointed and guidance came in far under consensus.
JM Smucker, Coffee Holding and Vail Resorts were among companies set to report earnings before the bell, while H&R Block or Cherokee would present numbers after the close.