By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally lower Thursday, handing back some of the previous session’s gains ahead of a busy day of corporate earnings and the release of key unemployment data.
At 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 25 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded 5 points, or 0.1%, lower, and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 21 points, or 0.2%.
The major indices posted strong gains Wednesday, snapping a two-day losing streak, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 0.9% higher, the S&P 500 rising 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite the relative outperformer, rallying 1.2%.
The earnings season continues apace Thursday, with the likes of AT&T (NYSE:T), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV), American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL), Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) and Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) releasing results before the opening bell, while numbers from chip maker Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) will likely dominate the news cycle after the close.
Other companies likely to be in the spotlight Thursday include Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG), after the burrito chain posted strong first quarter sales late Wednesday, with its online orders overtaking those made inside its restaurants for the first time.
Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) will also be in focus after the Swiss banking giant recorded a first-quarter loss and announced a 1.7 billion-franc ($1.9 billion) capital increase, as a hefty hit from the Archegos hedge fund scandal spoiled what would have been an impressive quarter.
Also of interest, the Biden administration on Thursday pledged to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% from 2005 levels by 2030, part of the broader plan to decarbonize the U.S. economy entirely by 2050.
The U.S. economic data slate centers around the weekly jobless claims data, which are due at 8:30 AM ET (1330 GMT) and are expected to come in at 617,000 for last week, above the previous week’s 576,000, indicating a patchy economic recovery. Existing home sales data for March are also due to be released at 10 AM ET.
Oil prices slipped Thursday, continuing to weaken after a surprise increase in U.S. crude inventories added to concerns about growing numbers of Covid-19 cases in India and Japan, the third and fourth largest oil importers in the world.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles unexpectedly edged higher in the week ended on April 16 by 594,000 barrels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, confirming American Petroleum Institute data from the day before.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.5% lower at $61.03 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.6% to $64.91. Both contracts fell more than 2% on Wednesday, closing at their lowest since April 13.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.4% to $1,786.60/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 1.2054.