On the upcoming Wednesday, Wall Street is projected to open higher in anticipation of Federal Chairman Jerome Powell's second day of testimony and the release of significant economic reports, including weekly jobless claims and the U.S. trade deficit.
Following the close of the markets on Wednesday, Dow futures were up by 33.00 points, S&P 500 futures had increased by 12.00 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up by 76.00 points. On Wednesday, the major U.S. averages ended in positive territory. The Nasdaq rose by 91.95 points or 0.6% to 16,031.54, the S&P 500 went up by 26.1 points or 0.5% to 5,104.76, and the Dow gained 75.86 points or 0.2% to reach 38,661.05.
In terms of economic updates, The International Trade in Goods and Services report for January is set to be released at 8:30 am ET. The consensus points towards a deficit of $63.7 billion, slightly higher than the deficit of $62.2 billion in the previous month.
Furthermore, the Jobless Claims for the week will be announced at 8:30 am ET. The consensus estimate stands at 215K, identical to the figure for the previous week.
The Productivity and Costs report for the fourth quarter is due at 8:30 am ET. The consensus anticipates an increase of 3.1%, which is slightly lower than the 3.2% rise in the prior quarter. The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week is expected to be released at 10:30 am ET. In the preceding week, the gas stock decreased by 96 bcf.
Additionally, The Consumer Credit report for January will be made available at 3:00 pm ET. According to the consensus, the number is expected to grow to $9.3 billion, a significant increase from the $1.6 billion in the previous month. Meanwhile, the Fed Balance Sheet is scheduled to be published at 4:30 pm ET. In the previous week, the level was at $7.568 trillion.
Federal Chairman Jerome Powell is set to give his semi-annual monetary policy testimony before the Senate Banking Committee at 10:00 am ET. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester will speak virtually about the economic outlook as a part of the European Economics and Financial Centre's Distinguished Speaker Series at 11:30 am ET.
There was a mix of results from Asian stocks on Thursday. Chinese and Hong Kong markets ended lower with China's Shanghai Composite index falling 0.41% to 3,027.40 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropping 1.27% to 16,229.
In Japan, markets underwent a decline on Thursday with the Nikkei average losing 1.23% to end at 39,598.71 and the broader Topix index settling 0.44% lower at 2,718.54. In contrast, Australian stocks went up led by financial stocks. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 went up 0.39% to 7,763.70, and the broader All Ordinaries index settled up 0.46% at 8,026.70.
