BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Initial Jobless Claims, Durable Goods Orders, Pending Home Sales, and a slew of other economic announcements are the major attraction on Thursday.
The U.S. stimulus bill is expected to be presented on the House floor for a vote tomorrow.
Asian shares finished higher, while European shares are trading mostly lower. Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly lower.
As of 7.15 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 15.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 12.10 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 131.00 points
The U.S. major Indices gained on Wednesday. The Dow soared 424.51 points or 1.4 percent to 31,961.86 and the S&P 500 jumped 44.06 points or 1.1 percent to 3,925.43. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also surged 132.77 points or 1 percent to 13,597.97 after tumbling by nearly 180 points in early trading.
On the economic front, Durable Good Orders for January will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 1.1 percent, while it was up 0.2 percent in the previous month.
The Department of Commerce's Gross Domestic Product of GDP for the fourth quarter will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 4.1 percent, while it was up 4.0 percent in the prior quarter.
The Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 815K, while it was up 861K in the previous week.
National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index for January will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for 0.0 percent, while it was down 0.3 percent in December.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the previous week, the Gas Stock was down 237 bcf.
The seven-year Treasury Note auction will be revealed at 1.00 pm ET.
Fed Balance Sheet for the week is scheduled at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the level was at $7.557 trillion.
Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles will speak on 'Stress Tests' before remote Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta 2021 Banking Outlook Conference at 4.30 pm ET.
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic to give an economic update before virtual Greater Naples Chamber event, via Zoom webinar at 12.00 pm ET.
New York Fed's John Williams to participate in a virtual discussion organized by One Hundred Black Men of New York, via Webinar at 3.00 pm ET.
Asian stocks rallied on Thursday. Chinese shares rose. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index ended up 20.97 points, or 0.59 percent, at 3,585.05, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged up 355.93 points, or 1.20 percent, at 30,074.17.
Japanese stocks surged on economic optimism. The Nikkei average rallied 496.57 points, or 1.67 percent, to 30,168.27, while the broader Topix index closed 1.22 percent higher at 1,926.23.
Australian markets advanced. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 56.20 points, or 0.83 percent, to 6,834, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 56.30 points, or 0.80 percent, at 7,105.70.
European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the German DAX is losing 43.95 points or 0.31 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is gaining 25.86 points or 0.37 percent.
The Swiss Market Index is down 27.32 points or 0.25 percent.
The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.14 percent.
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