By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening lower Thursday, continuing the recent move lower as investors fret about the impact of the ongoing Covid outbreak on the economic recovery.
At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 100 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 Futures traded 11 points, or 0.3%, lower, and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 30 points, or 0.2%.
The Federal Reserve confirmed Wednesday, in its latest Beige Book, a survey of recent economic conditions, that the U.S. economy "downshifted slightly" in August with dining, travel and tourism sectors hit by the coronavirus.
Adding to the worries is the uncertainty about when the central bank will begin tapering its bond-buying program, reducing its monetary stimulus.
The Fed has made great play of needing to see a recovery in the labor market before moving, but the picture has been mixed. The August official jobs report disappointed last week, but Wednesday’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed job openings outnumbered the unemployed by more than 2 million in July.
There are more data releases to study Thursday, with the weekly initial jobless claims expected to come in around 335,000, down from 340,000, while continuing jobless claims are expected to fall to 2.744 million, from 2.748 million the week before. Both reports are due at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT).
In corporate news, Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) will be in the spotlight after the retailer of athletic clothing offered up a strong full-year forecast as customers looked to maintain exercise regimes even after the easing of coronavirus restrictions.
Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) is seen trading sharply lower premarket after the brewer withdrew its earnings guidance amid concerns about the growth of its hard seltzer brand.
Chinese gaming companies Tencent (HK:0700) Holdings (OTC:TCEHY) and NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) also slumped in premarket Thursday on a report that Beijing has temporarily frozen new game approvals, with authorities continuing their regulatory clampdown.
Crude prices stabilized Thursday as the impact of Hurricane Ida on the output of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico region started to fade.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute, released late Wednesday, showed that crude drawdown for the week ended Sept. 3 was smaller than expected at just under 3 million barrels, but U.S. gasoline stocks fell by a hefty 6.4 million barrels.
Official crude supply data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration are due later in the day.
By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.4% higher at $69.56 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.4% to $72.91.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,796.95/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.1829.