US stock futures rose in premarket trade on Thursday ahead of new data out of Washington on the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits.
Contracts on the S&P 500 rose 0.5%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 150 points, or 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures rose 0.5%.
Meanwhile, oil prices eased slightly after a vicious uptrend but held above $122 and the US 10-year Treasury yield remained at the psychologically important 3% level.
A report suggesting that the much-anticipated IPO of Jack Ma’s Ant Group could be on the cards seemed to boost sentiment in morning trade. According to Bloomberg News, China may allow Alibaba’s subsidiary (BABA) to proceed with listing in a sign regulators may be banking on a technical crackdown that halted the IPO two years ago. Alibaba’s shares are up as much as 7% premarket.
Elsewhere, shares of Tesla (TSLA) are up more than 3% ahead of the open after UBS upgraded to Buy in a report that also said the electric vehicle giant is “best positioned to become one of the top 3 globally.” to become a car manufacturer by 2030.”
The moves in Thursday’s early trading come after a bearish day on Wall Street, which saw shares retrace losses after consecutive winning sessions. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 lost 1%, while the Dow and Nasdaq fell about 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively.
Investors continue to look for clues as to how the economy is faring amid tight financial conditions and how aggressive the Federal Reserve’s rate-hiking cycle could become ahead of a potential pause.
The latest weekly jobless claims report, due before the market opens, follows last Friday’s strong payrolls data, which is likely to signal policymakers that current labor market conditions can withstand further monetary tightening. Central bank officials have let the labor market guide the pace of interest rate hikes in fighting inflation, with policies aimed at dampening demand for labor just enough not to push the unemployment rate too high.
The story goes on
“Looking ahead, the Fed should most likely feel reassured that they’ve found the right balance lately,” said DWS-US economist Christian Scherrmann. “That in turn means it’s likely to stick with its aggressive monetary normalization path,” he added, also noting that such a tumultuous labor market leaves “plenty of room” to raise interest rates.
Investors are bracing for the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index (CPI) on Friday — a focus on this week’s economic data. May figures are expected to show that May inflation eased slightly from April’s elevated 8.3% rate, with consensus economists expecting headline inflation to rise by 8.2% a year and 5% in May .9% excluding food and energy prices.
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7:17 am ET: Stock futures rise as Wall Street tries to recover from losses
Here were the key moves in futures trading ahead of Thursday’s market open:
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S&P 500 Futures (EN=F): +20.50 (+0.50%) to 4,134.50
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Dow futures (YM=F): +146.00 (+0.44%) to 33,035.00
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Nasdaq Futures (NQ=F): +67.25 (+0.53%) to 12,683.00
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raw (CL=F): +$0.01 (+0.01%) to $122.12
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Gold (GC=F): -$6.50 (-0.35%) to $1,850.00 per ounce
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10-year government bonds (^TNX): +5 basis points for a return of 3.0290%
A trader walks in front of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on May 27, 2022. (Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc
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