Investing.com - Wall Street stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Thursday as investors took some profits after a record session a day earlier and looked ahead to data on the labor market and a long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).
The blue-chip Dow futures slipped 14 points, or 0.07%, by 6:48AM ET (11:48GMT), the S&P 500 futures lost 5 points, or 0.20%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 8 points, or 0.15%.
Not only did the Dow break above 21,000 on Wednesday but stocks also posted their best day of 2017 with all three major indices hitting all-time highs as investor sentiment was boosted by President Donald Trump’s first speech to Congress and promises for infrastructure spending.
Trump once again “took credit” for the rally in his first tweet of the day on Thursday, pointing out that the stock market has pocketed $3.2 trillion gain gains since election day, while consumer confidence has hit a 15-year high.
In that light, market players took a pause on Thursday as they looked ahead to a light economic calendar with weekly jobless claims as the major report in the spotlight at 8:30AM ET (13:30GMT).
While waiting for the data, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.25% at 101.99 by 6:49AM ET (11:49GMT) Thursday, just below its overnight high of 102.00 that was its strongest level since January 11.
Federal Reserve (Fed) governor Lael Brainard said late Wednesday that an improving global economy and a solid U.S. recovery mean it will be "appropriate soon" for the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates.
Her comments added an important voice to the chorus of officials this week signaling rates may rise as soon as mid-March.
According to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool, futures traders are now pricing in around a 75% chance of a Fed hike in March, up from around 22% at the start of the week.
Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester, as one of last year’s dissenters, will mostly likely add to the hawkish arguments when she speaks at 7:00PM ET (00:00GMT on Friday).
Of course, the main focus for commentary from the U.S. central bank will arrive on Friday when Fed chair Janet Yellen speaks on the economic outlook at the Executives’ Club of Chicago.
On the business front, all eyes were Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) in what would be its first day of trade on Thursday after the tech firm priced 200 million shares at $17 each, above its expected range of $14 to $16 a share, valuing it at roughly $24 billion, more than double the size of rival Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) and the richest valuation in a U.S. tech IPO since Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) five years ago.
Snap's IPO was oversubscribed by more than ten-times, indicating a hunger for the shares that might produce a pop on the first day of trading, as investors set aside concerns about its lack of profits and voting rights.
In earnings, Jd.Com (NASDAQ:JD) jumped nearly 4% in pre-market trade on Thursday after the e-commerce firm smashed consensus on the back of a 46% increase in revenue.
Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) and Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) were among other firms also set to report before the bell on Thursday, while the likes of American Outdoor Brands (NASDAQ:AOBC), Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK), Costco (NASDAQ:COST), Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ:MRVL) or Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ:WING) will release earnings after the market close.
Meanwhile, oil prices declined for the third day in a row on Thursday, as concern over record high U.S. crude inventories offset optimism that OPEC and its allies have been following through on their commitment to cut production.
U.S. crude futures fell 0.76% to $53.42 by 6:51AM ET (11:51GMT), while Brent oil lost 0.76% to $55.93.