These events may affect the market on Thursday:
1. Data on the beginning of housing construction
It is already well known that the pandemic has prompted many families to move from urban areas to suburban and even rural areas. Home builders' shares rose in response to such events.
On Thursday, we get housing start data at 08:30 am ET (12:30 GMT). Analysts believe the volume will be 1.5 million in November, the same as in October after sustained growth over the past six months.
2. The number of primary and secondary applications for unemployment benefits
Hospitality and restaurant workers have been hit hard by the pandemic. They can now take a breath of fresh air to learn that the proposed stimulus package includes several hundred dollars in pandemic relief. This amount is far from the $ 1200 checks that were sent in the spring to people of a certain income level, but at least this is already the beginning.
Unemployment is still high. The number of initial jobless claims for the past week due at 8:30 am ET (12:30 GMT) will be 800,000 last week, down from 853,000 the previous week, analysts said. Secondary jobless claims are expected to be 5.6 million, up from 5.7 million in the previous week.
3. Reports on the income of logistics, pharmaceutical and grain companies
FedEx Corporation, which is currently grappling with the holiday hype, will report earnings per share of $ 3.93 on $ 19.3 billion in revenue.
Pharmacy retail giant Rite Aid Corporation expects to report earnings per share of less than 1 cent on $ 5.8 billion in sales. American cereal maker General Mills Inc is expected to post a profit of 97 cents on $ 4 in revenue. 6 billion
