Following a choppy trading session that concluded with minimal change, stocks may continue to exhibit lackluster performance in early Thursday trading. Current indications from major index futures suggest a largely unchanged market opening, with S&P 500 futures modestly down by less than 0.1%.
Investors are displaying caution, processing the latest economic data from the U.S. while anticipating a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell scheduled for later today.
The Labor Department announced this morning that initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly decreased for the week ending November 9th. Specifically, jobless claims fell to 217,000, marking a drop of 4,000 from the prior week's figure of 221,000, which remained unrevised. Economists had anticipated a rise in claims to 223,000.
This unexpected decline brings jobless claims to their lowest since reaching 216,000 during the week ending May 18th.
In addition to this, the Labor Department released another report showing that U.S. producer prices in October increased in line with economist predictions, following the consumer price inflation data from the previous day that also met expectations.
Specifically, the producer price index for final demand rose by 0.2% in October, following a revised 0.1% rise in September. This matched economist expectations, who had predicted a 0.2% increase compared to the previously unchanged figure for September.
Furthermore, the report indicated that the annual growth rate of producer prices accelerated to 2.4% in October from a revised 1.9% in September. This was slightly higher than the predicted acceleration to 2.3% from the initially reported 1.8% for the previous month.
The slightly faster-than-expected annual price growth, coupled with robust jobless claims data, may contribute to ongoing uncertainty regarding future interest rate movements.
While it's still anticipated that the Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates by a quarter-point next month, there are concerns that persistent inflation could prompt a deceleration in rate cuts in early 2025.
Market participants will likely seek clarity on interest rate projections from Powell during his upcoming speech at an event hosted by the Dallas Regional Chamber, World Affairs Council of DFW, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas at 3 p.m. ET.
Yesterday, stocks displayed a lack of clear direction, with major indices fluctuating around the unchanged line after an initial downturn on Tuesday. Ultimately, the major averages finished the day with mixed results. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped by 50.66 points or 0.3% to 19,230.74, while the S&P 500 edged up by 1.39 points or less than 0.1% to 5,985.38, and the Dow gained 47.21 points or 0.1% to 43,958.19.
In international markets, Asia-Pacific stock indices mostly fell on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.5%, China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped by 1.7%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index decreased by 2.0%.
Conversely, major European markets have moved higher today. Germany's DAX Index has risen by 1.6%, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.2%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has increased by 0.5%.
In the commodities arena, crude oil futures are trending upward, climbing $0.68 to $69.11 a barrel after a $0.31 rise to $68.43 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, gold futures are dropping sharply, plunging $29.30 to $2,557.20 an ounce following a $19.80 decrease to $2,586.50 an ounce in the previous session.
In foreign exchange, the U.S. dollar is trading at 156.09 yen, up from the 155.46 yen at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is currently valued at $1.0525, compared to $1.0564 the previous day.
