© Reuters
By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening in a mixed fashion Thursday ahead of the release of weekly jobless data as well as more quarterly corporate earnings.
At 07:00 ET (12:00 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 70 points or 0.2%, while S&P 500 Futures traded 12 points or 0.3% lower, and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 50 points or 0.4%.
The main equity indices started the new month on an unstable footing, with investors fearful that interest rates are set to stay at an elevated level for longer than previously expected, potentially hitting economic activity.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just 5 points higher on Wednesday but is on track for its fifth consecutive negative week, the first time since May 2022. The broad-based S&P 500 ended 0.5% lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7%, with both set for their second consecutive losing week for the first time since December.
U.S. Treasury yields climbed higher Wednesday, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note hitting 4% for the first time since November.
This followed Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari saying a 50-basis-point rate hike at the U.S. central bank's next meeting was not out of the question, adding that rates may need to go higher than the 5.4% level he saw as the peak in December.
The next crucial economic data comes next week in the form of the jobs report for February, but ahead of the release of weekly initial jobless claims later in the session.
These claims last week unexpectedly fell by 3,000 to 192,000, the lowest in three weeks, suggesting the labor market remains healthy, thus providing room for the Fed to further tighten monetary policy.
In corporate news, the retail sector will remain in focus, with earnings scheduled from grocery giant Kroger (NYSE:KR), department store chain Macy’s (NYSE:M), and Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST).
Elsewhere, Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) stock rose 15% premarket after the workplace software group posted better-than-expected fourth quarter results and guidance, with CEO Marc Benioff aiming to boost profits under pressure from a host of activist investors.
Silvergate Capital (NYSE:SI) stock slumped over 34% after the lender, which specializes in the cryptocurrency market, warned said it may not survive as a going concern given the rout of the asset class.
Oil prices edged higher Thursday as traders weighed the prospect of a recovery in Chinese fuel demand against rising crude stockpiles in the United States.
U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels last week to just over 480M barrels, their highest level since May 2021, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday.
This was the tenth consecutive week of crude stock builds in the United States, and raised questions about demand destruction in the largest consumer of crude in the world.
Chinese manufacturing activity data, also released on Wednesday, had added to evidence of an economic rebound in the world's second largest economy and largest importer of crude.
By 07:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.6% higher at $78.12 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.5% to $84.74.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,842.15/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.4% lower at 1.0624.
